Columbia  ©nitimttp 

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Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


GOSPEL  PIONEERING: 

REMINISCENCES  OF  EARLY  CONGREGATIONALISM 
IN  CALIFORNIA 

1833-1920 


WILLIAM  G.  POND,  D.D. 


With  Introduction  by 

PROFESSOR  JOHN  WRIGHT  BUCKHAM,  D.D. 

of  the  Pacific  School  of  Religion 

Berkeley,  California 


19  2  1 


r 


^ 


COPYRIGHTED    1921 

BY 
M'TLLIAM   C.    POND 


PRESS    OF 

THE    NEWS    PRINTING    CO. 

OBERUN.    OHIO 


INTRODUCTION 

The  romance  of  the  religious  history  of  California 
does  not  all  lie  in  the  Missions.  A  deeper  romance 
attaches  to  the  founders  of  Protestantism  in  Cali- 
fornia. They  were  idealists,  men  of  vision,  as  well 
as  of  sterling  worth  and  judgment.  Willey  and  Ben- 
ton and  Warren  and  Lacy  and  Dwinell  and  Frear 
and  Pond  and  others  were  true  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  the 
Pacific,  of  the  same  heroic  mold  and  dauntless  spirit 
as  the  founders  of  Plymouth.  Of  this  company  the 
author  of  this  autobiography,  though  not  one  of  the 
earliest,  was  one  of  the  youngest  and  most  alert  and 
the  one  who  has  had  the  longest  term  of  active  service 
—  from  1853,  the  year  of  his  arrival,  to  the  present 
year  —  when,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one,  he  is  still  so 
earnestly  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  Oriental  mis- 
sions that  with  reluctance  he  has  withdrawn  from 
it  long  enough  to  complete  this  story  of  his  life. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  extent  of  Dr. 
Pond's  service  to  the  kingdom  of  God  in  California. 
Besides  his  pastoral  work  in  four  charges,  in  which 
he  won  many  an  aimless  life  to  Christ  and  sustained 
the  faith  of  the  wavering,  and  in  addition  to  his  co- 
operation with  his  fellow  citizens  in  laying  the  social 
and  moral  foundations  of  the  new  state,  there  are  two 


iv  Introduction 

enterprises  in  especial  in  which  he  has  done  memora- 
ble and  fruitful  service. 

The  first  of  these  consisted  of  the  aid  which  he 
rendered  to  Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  now  Pa- 
cific School  of  Religion,  as  a  member  of  its  Board  of 
Trustees  and  its  financial  representative.  At  a  time 
of  great  depression  and  disheartenment,  when  the  very 
life  of  the  institution  was  in  jeopardy,  he  stood  in  the 
breach.  It  was  not  merely  the  skill  and  success  with 
which  he  conducted  its  financial  campaign,  but  the 
faith  and  enthusiasm  which  he  imparted  to  the  insti- 
tution in  a  dark  hour.  It  would  perhaps  be  too  much 
to  say  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  William  C.  Pond, 
Pacific  Theological  Seminary  would  have  gone  the 
way  of  so  many  other  educational  enterprises  on  the 
Pacific  Coast;  but  at  all  events  he  threw  into  its  life 
so  vital  a  factor  at  a  critical  juncture  and  did  so  yeo- 
man a  work  in  its  behalf  as  to  link  his  name  with  the 
School  in  all  of  its  future  as  one  of  its  truest  benefac- 
tors to  be  held  in  lasting  honor. 

The  other  service  was  in  many  wa5^s  unique  and 
came  to  him  as  a  call  from  the  Master  who  is  Brother 
of  all.  At  a  time  when  the  Chinese  in  San  Francisco 
were  friendless,  homeless  and  ill-treated.  Dr.  Pond 
took  them  to  his  heart,  his  home  and  the  communion 
table  of  his  church.  He  did  this  at  heavy  cost  of  sac- 
rifice and   misunderstanding,   in   the   face  not  only  of 


Introduction  v 

the  community  in  general,  but  of  the  churches  them- 
selves. The  response  which  came  from  those  whom 
he  befriended  was  far  beyond  all  expectation  and  gave 
him  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  Orientals  which 
has  constantly  deepened  up  to  the  present  time.  His 
work  for  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  of  the  Coast  under 
the  American  Missionary  Association  has  been  that  of 
home  and  foreign  missions  combined  and  will  yield 
fruit  for  generations  to  come. 

There  is  one  trait  of  Doctor  Pond  which  has 
especially  endeared  him  to  many  of  us,  and  that  is 
his  catholicity  and  charity  of  spirit.  In  the  midst  of 
changing  conditions  and  conceptons  he  has  been  deeply 
concerned  lest,  in  the  present-day  emphasis  upon  the 
social  gospel,  the  power  of  Christ  to  transform  the  in- 
dividual should  be  lost  to  sight.  Yet  he  has  never 
refused  a  generous  hearing  to  the  honest  convictions 
of  another.  He  has  stood  resolutely  for  freedom  of 
thought  and  utterance,  however  much  the  views  ex- 
pressed might  differ  from  his  own.  And  when  he  has 
stated  his  own  position  it  has  always  been  in  terms 
as  tolerant  and  full  of  love  as  of  clarity  and  force.  In 
this  he  has  shown  the  mind  of  Christ. 

Those  of  us  who  know  and  love  Dr.  Pond  will  be 
able  to  multiply  the  statements  of  this  modest  narra- 
tive so  as  to  represent  something  of  the  real  fruitage 
of  his  life   and  character.     We  shall  be  able  also  to 


vi  Introduction 

catch  something  which  is  to  be  read  chiefly  between 
the  lines.  I  refer  to  the  wonderful  spiritual  vitality 
which  so  invests  Doctor  Pond.  The  editor  of  the 
"  Hibbert  Journal  "  has  recently  deplored  what  he  has 
termed  the  Lost  Radiance  of  Christianity.  Dr.  Pond 
has  never  lost  it.  Neither  toils,  nor  adversities,  nor  age 
itself,  have  been  able  to  rob  him  of  his  Christian  en- 
thusiasm. He  has  drunk  of  the  waters  of  eternal 
youth  in  Christ,  and  there  is  in  him  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  into  eternal  life.  This  is  the  crowning 
achievement  —  or  (as  he  would  have  me  say)  gift  — 
of  this  spiritual  pioneer  —  the  radiant  youth  of  his 
life  in  Christ. 

John  Wright  Buckham. 

Pacific  School  of  Religion, 

July  1 6,  1 92 1. 


CONTENTS 

Introduction    iii-vl 

Table   of   Contents 7 

Chapter  I.     Personal    9 

Chapter  II.    Prior  Impressions  Concerning 

California    17 

Chapter  III.    Our   Arrival   and   the    Dis- 
posal Made  of  Us 21 

Chapter  IV.    Changes  of  Local  Sentiment 

Respecting  Our  Own  State 30 

Chapter  V.    Union  versus  Unity 44 

Chapter  VI.   The  Greenwich  Street 

Church  in  San  Francis'co 62 

Chapter  VII.    Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  69 

Chapter  VIII.    Perils  by  the  Way 87 

Chapter  IX.     Three    Years   at    Petaluma 

(1865-1868)    91 

Chapter  X.     The  Pacific 99 


viii  Contents 

Chapter  XL    The  Pacific  Theological 

Seminary   104 

Chapter  XII.  The  Orientals  in  California  128 

Chapter  XIII.    Bethany  Church 146 

Chapter  XIV.     Early  Congregationalism 

AND  Social  Questions 159 

Chapter  XV.    In  Conclusion 167 

Chapter  XVI.    Supplemental.    The  Char- 
ismata :  Spiritual  Gifts 175 

"  My  Psalm  '' — Whittier   192 


WILLIAM  C.  POND,  AET,  90 


GOSPEL  PIONEERING: 

Reminiscences  of  Early  Congregationalism  in  California 

CHAPTER   I. 

PERSONAL 

I  AM  a  son  of  Rev.  Enoch  Pond,  D.D.,  professor 
and  later  president  of  the  Bangor  Theological  Semi- 
nary, in  Maine.  My  mother  was  Julia  Maltby  Pond, 
a  sister  of  Rev.  John  Maltby,  who  for  almost  thirty 
years  was  pastor  of  the  Hammond  Street  Church  in 
Bangor.  I  was  born  February  22,  1830,  at  Cam- 
bridgeport,  Massachusetts,  but  at  two  years  of  age 
removed  with  the  family  to  Bangor. 

Among  the  vivid  recollections  of  my  boyhood  is 
that  of  being  sent  to  school  when  three  years  old.  I 
am  sure  of  its  being  at  that  age,  because  I  distinctly 
remember  that  when  I  became  four  years  old  I  was 
admitted  to  the  public  school.  None  were  admitted 
to  a  public  school  before  the  age  of  four  years.  That 
early  schooling  must  have  impressed  me  deeply,  for  I 
clearly  recall  the  building  in  which  our  school  occu- 
pied a  room.  Even  the  little  seat  in  which  I  sat, 
somewhat  removed  from  other  seats,  I  seem  to  see, 
and  my  little  self  sitting  in  it.  The  name  and  the 
face  and  the  gentle  spirit  of  the  teacher  are  still  be- 
fore me,  and  my  victory  in  learning  to  read  —  all  these 
are  as  vivid  in  my  memory  as  any  minor  recollection 
of  later  years. 

My  mother  entered  Heaven  when  I  was  eight 
years  old.     This  event  had  much  to  do  with  all  that 


lo  Gospel  Pioneering 

I  have  become  and  all  that  I  have  been  enabled  to 
accomplish  in  subsequent  years.  All  that  is  sweet  in 
ideal  motherhood  was  pictured  for  me  in  her  quiet, 
loving,  faithful  life  at  home;  and  the  picture  is  today 
as  distinct,  as  attractive,  as  winning  to  "  whatever  is 
lovely,  whatever  is  pure,  whatever  is  of  good  report  " 
as  it  was  eighty  years  and  more  ago. 

I  cannot  remember  the  time  when,  if  ever,  I  was 
willing  to  be  spoken  of  as  little.  I  can  almost  see 
my  mother's  pleasant  look  when  time  after  time  I 
went  to  her  bedroom  as  soon  as  I  was  dressed  and 
asked,  "How  old  am  I?"  "Five  years  old,"  was 
the  unfailing  reply.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  should 
never  stop  being  five  years  old.  At  last  the  welcomed 
answer  came,  "  Six  years  old,"  and  I  looked  down  at 
my  shoes  to  see  if  they  did  not  look  like  those  of  a 
big  boy.  And  from  that  day  I  felt  wronged  if  I  was 
classed  with  little  boys. 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  that  early  childhood  nothing 
absorbed  my  thinking  so  completely  as  a  looking  for- 
ward to  manhood  and  planning  as  to  what  I  should 
do  when  I  became  a  man.  One  exhibition  of  this 
occurred  one  evening  when  my  mother's  maid  was 
passing  the  room  in  which  I  slept  and  heard  me  sob- 
bing bitterly.  She  hastened  to  my  father's  study  and 
told  him  about  it,  and  he  was  quickly  at  my  side. 
"What  is  the  matter  with  you,  Willie?"  he  asked, 
and  I  managed  to  say  in  the  midst  of  my  sobs :  "  I 
don't  want  to  be  a  minister!  "  My  father's  reply, 
"  You  need  not  be  a  minister  if  you  don't  wish  to," 
immediately  quieted  me  and  I  settled  down  to  sleep. 

The  most  far-reaching  of  all  the  events  of  my  child- 


Personal  1 1 

hood  occurred  when  I  was  ten  years  old.  There  was 
special  interest  in  religion,  pervading  the  whole  city. 
It  reached  even  to  us  bo^'s,  and  I  was  filled  with  a 
desire  to  become  a  Christian.  I  do  not  know  how  to 
account  for  it,  but  no  other  question  that  ever  entered 
my  mind  stirred  me  more  than  did,  at  this  early  age, 
the  one,  ''  How  to  become  a  Christian."  I  wonder 
that  I  did  not  carry  this  question  to  my  father.  There 
was  nothing  in  him  to  awe  me  or  keep  me  at  a  dis- 
tance. When,  night  by  night,  in  the  cold  Maine  win- 
ters, he  came  up  to  our  chamber  to  see  that  his  three 
boys  were  safe  and  warm,  as  he  came  to  my  bed  and 
tucked  me  in,  I  could  feel  my  heart  fairly  swell  with 
love  for  him,  but  I  never  told  him  so.  About  ordi- 
nary matters  I  was  bluntly  outspoken,  but  in  matters 
of  the  inner  life,  in  expressions  of  affection  for  my 
dearest  friends,  or  of  this  craving  to  be  right  with 
God,  my  lips  were  somehow  sealed. 

It  would  seem  that  in  the  home,  in  the  prayer- 
meeting,  in  the  Sunday  School,  something  would  cer- 
tainly be  said  which  would  show  the  way  plainly, 
but  when  our  Sunday  School  superintendent,  who 
had  led  many  to  Christ,  pleaded  with  us  to  come  to 
the  Savior,  it  meant  nothing  to  me.  I  thought  of 
Christ  as  sitting  at  God's  right  hand  in  some  glor- 
ious place  called  Heaven:  how  could  I  come  to  Him? 
In  Bible  tenns  we  were  bidden  to  repent,  or  to  be- 
lieve in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  these  expressions 
meant  nothing  to  me.  I  remember  that  once  as  I 
rode  my  father's  horse  along  the  road  to  bring  in  our 
cow  from  the  pasture,  I  said  to  myself:  "  If  it  were 
said  that  by   going  to  Jerusalem   I   could  become   a 


12  Gospel  Pioneering 

Christian,  I  would  find  some  way  to  get  there  " ;  but 
I  knew  well  that  this  would  not  help  me  at  all. 

I  do  not  remember  how  long  this  agony  continued 
within  me,  but  it  was  approaching  winter  when,  at 
my  daily  task  in  the  cellar  of  cutting  up  small  pota- 
toes for  the  cow's  evening  meal,  my  desperation  be- 
came conclusive,  and  I  said  to  myself  something  like 
this:  "  I  don't  know  anything  about  it,  and  I  can't 
find  out.  If  Jesus  wants  me  to  be  a  Christian,  He 
must  make  me  one."  I  can  now  see  what  I  did  not 
see  then,  that  my  turning  the  matter  over  to  Jesus 
Himself,  and  my  thus  reaching  out  for  Him,  implied 
my  believing  in  Him  and  had  in  it  a  real  faith, 
though  I  did  not  recognize  it  at  the  time. 

Two  or  three  days  elapsed.  As  I  looked  back  upon 
them,  I  perceived  that  my  question  how  to  become  a 
Christian  was  no  longer  troubling  me;  indeed,  those 
days  had  been  brightened  for  me  with  a  peace  that 
was  new  to  me,  and  I  said  to  myself  —  the  words  are 
distinctly  remembered  across  eighty  years  —  "  This  is 
just  what  people  tell  about  when  they  become  Chris- 
tians. I  believe  that  I  am  a  Christian  —  yes,  I  am 
a  Christian." 

With  this  there  came  a  decisive  change  in  my  out- 
look upon  the  future.  It  was  not  long  before  I  went 
to  my  father  and  said,  "  I  want  to  become  a  minis- 
ter," and  he  gave  me  his  blessing,  and  from  that  time 
my  work  at  school  and  much  that  took  place  outside 
of  both  school  and  home  was  linked  with  this  one 
purpose,  to  become  a  minister. 

Two  years  elapsed  before  I  united  with  the  church. 
During  a  portion   of  this  period   I  was  beset  with 


Personal  13 

doubts  about  almost  everything.  I  doubted  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel,  the  possibility  of  life  beyond  what  we 
call  death,  the  very  existence  of  God.  There  was  no 
conceit  in  this  doubting,  and  consequently  no  com- 
fort. At  times  the  discomfort  amounted  almost  to 
agony.  I  remember  distinctly  that  on  returning  from 
school  as  I  walked  up  one  of  the  hills  on  which  my 
home  is  founded,  looking  at  an  illfed  horse  descend- 
ing the  hill  with  a  load  of  wood  pressing  upon  him. 
I  envied  that  horse  —  actually  felt  as  if  I  would,  if 
I  could,  exchange  places  with  him.  But  after  the 
decision  was  made  to  confess  Christ  and  to  unite 
with  His  Church,  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
alternative  of  believing  or  of  lying  and  playing  the 
hypocrite,  I  remember  standing  under  one  of  the  elms 
in  our  home  grounds  and  manfully,  boy  though  I  was, 
just  facing  the  doubts.  —  "  What  new  light  have  you 
given  me  that  my  believing  father  has  been  blind 
to?  What  reasonable  ground  have  I  for  doubting? 
Where  are  the  reasons  for  doubt  which  you,  a  boy, 
have  seen,  and  your  father  has  not  discovered  ? " 
Thus  I  came  to  see  that  I  was  not  even  using  reason 
at  all.  I  was  saying  to  myself  over  and  over  and 
over  again,  first  about  one  and  then  about  another 
of  the  teachings,  public  and  private,  of  my  father, 
''What  if—?"  "What  if  the  Bible  is  not  trust- 
worthy? What  if  Jesus  was  simply  a  man,  or  per- 
haps just  the  creation  of  a  writer  of  fiction?  What 
if  there  is  no  God?"  I  found  that  there  was  no  rea- 
son, not  even  an  attempt  at  reasoning  in  such  a 
"  What  if,"  and  that  I  had  endured  all  those  deadly 
doubtings  with  nothing  to  base  them  upon  but  a  silly 


14  Gospel  Pioneering 

"  What  if."  Thus  doubt  was  defeated  for  once  and 
for  all.  I  answered  the  Father  of  Lies,  "  Next  time 
when  you  want  to  draw  me  into  a  morass  of  doubt, 
give  me  some  substantial  reason  for  doubting;  and 
if  you  cannot  do  that,  let  me  alone."  That  boyish 
conclusion  has  lasted  me  through  all  studies  and  all 
years. 

I  was  graduated  from  Bowdoin  College  in  1848, 
after  which  I  taught  one  year  in  Thomaston  Academy 
and  spent  three  years  in  Bangor  Seminary. 

Even  before  my  graduation  from  college  this  im- 
pulse of  which  I  have  spoken  to  peer  into  my  future 
led  me  sometimes  to  nothing  better  than  a  mere  build- 
ing of  castles  in  the  air,  but  more  often  to  a  serious 
and  prayerful  consideration  of  the  two  fields,  the 
Home  and  the  Foreign,  and  of  my  own  adaptedness 
to  one  or  the  other.  In  the  year  spent  in  teaching, 
between  college  and  the  seminary,  it  had  come  to  be 
a  settled  conviction  that  Christ  was  calling  me  to  some 
foreign  work.  There  never  was  with  me  any  glamor 
about  the  foreign  work.  I  loved  New  England.  I 
really  wanted  to  live  there,  work  there,  die  there;  but 
the  facts  of  the  case,  coolly  considered,  would  not  ad- 
mit of  it.  I  was  not  my  father's  only  son,  and  there  was 
no  one  dependent  upon  me,  either  for  sustenance  or 
for  companionship,  save  one,  who,  dearer  to  me  than 
life  itself,  had  promised  to  become  my  wife,  and  she 
from  early  childhood  had  looked  forward  to  foreign 
missionary  service  with  an  anticipation  of  it  and  a 
consecration  to  it  which  almost  amounted  to  proph- 
ecy. I  had  a  good  physical  constitution,  equal  to 
the  endurance  of  hardships.     I  had  a  fair  facility  in 


Personal  15 

the  study  of  languages.  There  was  absolutely  noth- 
ing to  prevent  my  going  to  foreign  lands  that  would 
not  excuse  every  young  man;  and  my  not  going 
would  be  equivalent,  as  far  as  I  myself  was  con- 
cerned, to  deciding  that  there  should  be  no  foreign 
missions  at  all.  It  was  to  this  compulsion  of  the 
facts  that  I  yielded,  and  even  at  length  entered  into 
correspondence  with  the  American  Board  about  the 
matter. 

The  only  deterrent  in  my  heart  from  the  foreign 
missionary  work  was  this,  that  I  must  preach  in  some 
other  than  my  native  tongue.  From  that  day  to  this 
I  have  never  been  able  to  explain  this,  unless  my 
Master  put  it  there  to  determine  for  me  my  final 
decision.  For  about  two  months  before  my  gradua- 
tion from  the  Seminary,  there  appeared  in  the  "  Home 
Missionary  "a  very  urgent  appeal  for  missionaries  to 
California;  and  I  think  that  scarcely  fifteen  minutes 
passed  after  the  reading  of  that  appeal  before  I  said 
in  my  heart,  "  That  is  a  call  for  me."  All  that  had 
made  me  resolve  to  be  a  foreign  missionary — the 
probable  encountering  of  hardship,  the  distance  from 
the  old  home,  the  encountering  of  physical  difficulties 
such  as  not  all  young  men  could  sustain  —  these  ex- 
isted in  regard  to  California,  as  we  then  viewed  it, 
and  the  preaching  would  be  done  in  my  mother 
tongue. 

All  this  will  be  sufficiently  amusing  in  these  days 
in  which  the  world  is  coming  to  see  in  California 
its  very  paradise.  But  then  California  was  distant 
from  New  England,  by  the  healthful  and  safe  route, 
17,000  miles.     I  sailed  that  distance  jn  order  to  get 


1 6  Gospel  Pioneering 

here.  Then  the  reports  received  and  believed  by  peo- 
ple generally  and  by  me,  were  that  it  was  a  barren 
country,  with  nothing  but  its  gold  to  reward  adven- 
ture and  toil. 

But  of  this  let  me  speak  in  a  second  chapter. 


Prior  Impressions  Concerning  California  17 


CHAPTER    II. 

PRIOR  IMPRESSIONS  CONCERNING  CALIFORNIA 

I  DESPAIR  of  success  in  setting  forth  these  impres- 
sions as  they  remain  fact-like  and  vivid  in  my  own 
memory  —  mistaken  impressions,  without  which  I 
would  probably  never  have  come  here.  Let  me  fortify 
what  I  have  to  write  by  this  brief  quotation  from  a 
speech  made  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  about 
the  date  at  which  my  purpose  was  formed  to  give  to 
this  state  my  life.  The  speaker  was  a  man  of  note 
in  those  days.  Senator  McDuffie  of  South  Carolina. 
■ — "Why,  sir,  of  what  use  will  this  territory  (i.e. 
California)  be  for  agriculture?  I  would  not  for  that 
purpose  give  a  pinch  of  snuff  for  the  whole  of  it!  " 

Now  let  my  reader  conceive  of  a  people  whose 
years,  and  the  years  of  whose  ancestors,  had  been 
spent  where  a  month's  drought  in  summer  would  re- 
duce to  despair  all  thought  of  a  harvest  either  of  fruits 
or  of  grains;  such  a  people  hearing  about  a  country 
in  which  every  summer  was  dry,  without  rain  for 
six  months,  and  what  will  they  think  about  it?  To 
the  mass  of  New  England  people  irrigation  was  sub- 
stantially an  unknown  art.  We  might  have  read  of 
the  way  in  which  from  prehistoric  days  Egypt  had 
been  made  fruitful  by  the  overflow  of  the  Nile;  but 
in  this  there  was  no  precedent  for  farming  in  Cali- 
fornia, or,  so  far  as  we  knew,  anywhere  in  the  world 
except  Egypt. 


1 8  Gospel  Pioneering 

Perhaps  not  all  New  England  people  were  as  Ig- 
norant as  I  was,  but  my  first  happy  disappointment 
as  to  the  land  to  which  I  had  consecrated  my  whole 
life  in  the  service  of  Christ  was  in  finding  the  shores 
on  either  side  of  the  Golden  Gate,  as  in  February  we 
sailed  in,  dressed  in  living  green,  and  the  next  was 
in  finding  on  the  table  of  the  hotel  to  which  we  were 
conducted  some  fresh  radishes.  I  said  to  myself, 
"These  must  have  grown  here;  if  so,  why  will  not 
other  things  grow  as  well  ?  " 

The  impression  of  California  character  then  cur- 
rent in  New  England  m.ay  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  when  a  prominent  Christian  man  in  Bangor, 
having  become  financially  embarrassed,  started  for 
California  to  recoup  his  fortunes,  another  Christian 
said  to  me  in  all  soberness,  "  Don't  you  think  he 
ought  to  be  subject  to  church  discipline?"  —  or  from 
the  fact  that  my  pastor,  who  was  also  my  uncle,  was 
reported  to  have  remarked  when  he  heard  I  was  com- 
ing here,  "  If  men  will  go  to  hell,  I  don't  know  how 
far  it  is  a  Christian's  duty  to  follow  them!  "  I  my- 
self had  such  impressions  that,  just  as  if  I  were  going 
to  central  Africa,  I  said  to  a  good  friend  who  was  a 
watchmaker,  "Get  me  a  reliable  watch;  I  don't  care 
about  the  case,  but  I  want  good,  trustworthy  works, 
for  I  may  be  long  out  of  reach  of  a  watchmaker." 
And  when  he  came  on  to  New  York  to  see  me  of¥, 
I  asked  him  to  purchase  for  me  a  trustworthy  clock 
for  the  same  reason.  Even  more  amusing  it  may  be 
now,  that  I  said  to  the  dear  girl  who  was  to  be  my 
wife,  "  We  may  be  entirely  out  of  reach  of  any  phy- 
sician,   and    I    never    should    dare    to    dose    you  with 


Prior  Impressions  Concerning  California  19 

drugs,  and  I  couldn't  bear  not  to  do  anything  for 
you  if  you  were  sick;  I  believe  that  I  will  buy  a  box 
of  homeopathic  remedies  and  a  book"  —  which  I  did. 
Of  course  we  had  scarcely  landed  in  San  Francisco 
before  all  such  impressions  were  removed;  but  in 
New  England  when  we  left,  they  were  very  real, 
and  had  the  effect  upon  me  to  make  me  feel  almost 
instantly  upon  reading  the  appeal  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  that  this  was  the  land  to  which  Christ  was 
calling  me. 

I  will  only  add  that  when  at  length  eight  of  us 
home  missionaries,  six  for  California  and  two  for 
Oregon,  w^ere  gathered  in  New  York  and  ready  to 
sail,  a  farewell  meeting  was  held  for  us,  as  if  we 
were  really  foreign  missionaries.  This  meeting  was 
held  at  the  then  Fourteenth  Street  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  a  charge  was  given  us  by  its  pastor, 
Rev.  Dr.  Asa  D.  Smith,  afterwards  president  of 
Dartmouth  College.  One  point  in  that  charge  has 
been  in  my  memory  and  has  fastened  itself  on  my 
conscience  from  that  day  to  this:  it  was,  "  Give  thy- 
self wholly  to  them"  (i  Tim.  4:15),  i.e.  to  the 
studies  and  various  ministries  connected  with  your 
calling  of  God.  He  forewarned  us  that  there  would 
probably  be  laid  before  us  for  consideration,  by  real 
though  mistaken  friends,  "  get-rich-quick  "  projects  of 
various  kinds,  but  especially  in  mining  for  gold, 
projects  sure  to  make  us  rich  without  calling  us  away 
at  all  from  pastoral  service.  For  this  appeal,  which, 
as  I  remember,  I  somewhat  resented  at  the  time  as 
needless  and  implying  suspicion  of  our  full  consecra- 
tion, I  have  reason  to  thank  both  Dr.  Smith  and  the 


20  Gospel  Pioneering 

Master  Himself,  for  it  saved  me  from  some  adven- 
tures, in  themselves  honest  and  innocent,  v^^hich  vrould 
in  their  results  have  w^recked  me  financially,  and  in 
so  doing  w^recked  my  ministry. 

I  am  sure  that  it  will  be  almost  impossible  for 
those  w^ho  arrived  in  California  even  but  a  few^  years 
later  than  I  did,  and  especially  those  who  were  bom 
and  grew  up  here,  to  make  real  to  themselves  the 
possibility  that  any  such  thoughts  as  I  have  expressed 
could  ever  have  been  cherished  concerning  the  fairest, 
richest,  healthiest,  most  delightful  land  that  the  sun 
shines  upon.  I  found,  indeed,  after  my  arrival  here 
that  some  people  Eastward  had  already,  even  when 
I  was  responding  in  my  heart  to  this  appeal,  discov- 
ered that  California  had  a  fertile  soil,  and  in  spite  of 
the  terrible  drought,  lasting  through  half  a  year, 
might  have  opportunities  for  the  farmer  as  well  as 
the  miner.  And  in  the  course  of  the  year,  in  the 
spring  of  which  I  arrived,  convincing  and  surprising 
proof  of  this  appeared  in  potatoes  eight  inches  long 
and  otherwise  large  in  proportion,  one  of  which  would 
be  sufficient  to  offer  in  portions  for  a  half  dozen  guests, 
and  in  beets  even  more  monstrous.  Experiments  were 
also  made  in  valleys  not  too  far  from  the  ocean  in 
the  raising  of  wheat,  with  crops  in  some  cases  of  forty 
bushels  to  the  acre.  But  I  have  been  giving  personal 
reminiscences  which,  I  am  quite  sure,  represent  the 
general  thought  in  New  England  in  1852  respecting 
California. 


Our  Arrival  and  Disposal  Made  of  Us    21 


CHAPTER   III. 

OUR  ARRIVAL  AND  THE  DISPOSAL  MADE  OF  US 

It  was  on  February  23d,  1853,  that  the  good  ship 
"  Trade  Wind,"  with  68  passengers  on  board,  was 
docked  at  the  only  wharf  in  the  city  front  which  could 
accommodate  so  long  a  vessel.  This  was  an  exten- 
sion of  Commercial  Street,  an  inside  street  between 
Sacramento  and  Clay,  and  parallel  with  them.  It 
was  known  as  Long  Wharf,  but  I  dare  say  its  out- 
most end  was  where  East  Street  now  runs.  The  tra- 
dition about  it  current  at  that  time  was  that  it  helped 
materially  to  save  to  San  Francisco  its  commercial 
supremacy.  This  tradition  was  that  after  a  second 
fire  which  swept  the  site  of  San  Francisco  almost 
clean  of  its  tents  and  shanties,  Benicia  believed  that 
it  would  soon  be  chosen  as  the  future  metropolis.  It 
was  so  sure  of  this,  by  virtue  of  its  superior  advan- 
tages, that  the  price  of  lots  immediately  rose,  while 
stricken  San  Francisco  ran  out  this  long  wharf,  to 
enable  the  clippers  to  discharge  their  cargoes  other- 
wise than  by  lighters.  This  brought  the  freight,  and 
of  course  the  business,  to  the  present  metropolis. 

We  had  a  really  delightful  voyage  on  a  fine  clip- 
per ship  built  upon  a  model  peculiar  to  those  times 
and  especially  for  the  California  trade,  a  model  de- 
signed to  secure  for  these  ships  the  utmost  speed  con- 
sistent with  safety.  For  there  were,  I  suppose,  fully 
300,000  people  in  California,  and  virtually  everything 


22  Gospel  Pjoxekring 

for  their  use  was  imported.  Some  classes  of  goods, 
such  as  would  bear  heavy  rates  to  freight  and  would 
occupy  little  space,  could  come  in  about  a  month's 
time  by  steamer  to  Nicaragua  or  the  Isthmus  of  Pan- 
ama, there  to  be  unloaded  and  packed  on  the  backs 
of  mules  for  crossing  the  Isthmus;  or,  if  sent  by  Nic- 
aragua, to  be  transported  first  by  wagons,  then  by  a 
steamer  on  the  Lake,  and  then  again  by  wagons,  to 
be  reshipped  on  a  steamer  again  for  San  Francisco. 
On  either  of  these  routes,  but  particularly  on  that  by 
Panama,  very  many  passengers  suffered  from  fever; 
and  the  contrast  between  the  health  and  vigor  of  our 
party  and  the  woebegone  appearance  of  those  dis- 
charged from  a  steamer  on  the  other  side  of  our 
wharf,  was  a  matter  of  general  town  talk. 

Our  voyage  was  not  destitute  of  adventure.  One 
day  the  cargo  of  the  ship  was  on  fire  between  decks. 
There  was  no  visible  flame,  only  little  curls  of  smoke. 
It  could  easily  have  been  quenched,  were  it  not  that 
the  brave  sailors  who  w^ent  down  to  tn^  to  remove 
the  freight  and  reach  the  source  of  danger,  were  over- 
come by  gas  and  rendered  unconscious  almost  as  soon 
as  they  went  dow^n.  The  danger  became  so  immi- 
nent that  the  captain  had  the  boats  made  ready,  and 
even  rafts  prepared,  so  that  if,  by  explosion  or  other- 
wise, the  ship  w^as  rendered  helpless,  we  might  take 
to  the  open  sea  for  a  sail  of  400  miles  to  the  nearest 
shore.  But  there  w^as  no  excitement.  The  women 
addressed  themselves  to  restoring  the  sailors  brought 
up  unconscious,  who  were  no  sooner  thus  recovered 
than  they  went  bravely  back  to  the  deadly  task.  The 
rest  of  us  drew  water  up  the  vessel's  sides,  or  did  any 


Our  Arrival  and  Disposal  Made  of  Us    23 

other  work  to  which  our  captain  summoned  us,  and 
at  length  the  fire  was  quenched.  Even  now,  the 
seriousness  and  the  calmness  with  which  the  rescue 
work  went  on,  continues  to  illustrate  for  me  the  power 
of  faith  to  quell  all  fear. 

One  day  in  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire,  between  Terra 
del  Fuego  and  the  Falkland  Islands,  was  especially 
eventful.  We  had  doubled  the  Cape,  and  as  it  was 
in  January  —  summer  time  in  that  Southern  hemis- 
phere—  we  had  read  fine  print  in  the  twilight  of 
midnight,  and  now  we  were  in  sight  of  land  on  both 
sides  of  us.  If  any  one  wants  to  know  what  a  relief 
and  comfort  it  is  to  look  at  land  close  by,  let  him  be 
out  of  sight  of  it  for  fifty-two  days,  as  we  had  been 
and  he  will  learn  what  never  will  be  forgotten. 
Even  now  I  can  see  the  slopes  of  the  Coast  Range  on 
Terra  del  Fuego,  with  the  snow  still  lying  upon 
them  in  the  shady  spots,  and  the  peaks  standing  off 
from  each  other  like  two  human  neighbors  sulking  — 
see  it  as  if  my  sight  of  it  had  been  gained  six  months 
ago  instead  of  seventy  years. 

We  saw  a  clipper  on  the  other  side  of  the  Strait 
and  signalled  her.  She  did  not  respond  to  our  sig- 
nals and  thus  had  the  advantage  of  us.  If  she  arrived 
in  San  Francisco  before  we  did,  she  could  report  the 
ship  she  had  outsailed.  If  we  came  in  ahead  of  her, 
we  did  not  know  whom  we  had  beaten  and  would  be 
silent  about  it.  Our  ship  seemed  to  be  making  good 
time,  but  our  unneighborly  neighbor  was  going  ahead 
of  us  until  it  was  almost  lost  in  the  distance.  But  we 
discovered  at  length  that  we  were  the  victims  of  a 
tide    current    making    against    us,    which,    however, 


24  Gospel  Pioneering 

turned  about  noon  and  helped  us  on,  till  we  overtook 
our  rival,  seeing  her  about  five  miles  distant,  and  leav- 
ing her  behind  and  out  of  sight  while  yet  the  evening 
twilight  was  clear.  She  arrived  about  two  days  after 
us  and  docked  at  the  same  wharf  inside  of  our  ship, 
and  a  passenger  on  her  betrayed  her  to  one  of  our 
passengers,  telling  him  "  how  they  beat  that  big  ship 
in  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire."  Our  passenger  was 
ready  with  a  fit  reply. 

The  race  with  the  other  clipper  did  not  exhaust 
the  adventures  of  that  day.  In  the  afternoon  my 
wife  and  I  were  sitting  in  the  bow  looking  out  over 
the  sea,  watching  for  the  spouting  of  a  whale.  We 
were  rewarded  by  seeing  one  some  three  miles  ahead. 
Watching  for  another  spout,  we  saw  it  not  more  than 
a  mile  ahead.  Watching  still,  the  big  ship  struck 
something  which  shook  it  from  stem  to  stem.  Passen- 
gers came  up  from  the  cabin  to  know  whether  we  had 
struck  a  rock.  But  it  was  just  the  head  of  that  whale, 
as  we  knew  in  an  instant,  for  he  threw  his  immense 
tail  up  in  the  air  and  disappeared,  going  down  into 
the  depths  with  a  well-settled  headache,  I  ween. 

The  quickest  passage  made  by  any  clipper  from 
New  York  to  San  Francisco  up  to  the  time  of  our 
sailing  was  that  of  the  "  Flying  Cloud,"  in  eighty- 
nine  days  and  twenty-three  hours.  We  wanted  to 
beat  her,  and  were  encouraged  to  think  that  we  might 
do  so,  when  we  found  that  notwithstanding  the  de- 
lay occasioned  by  our  fire  we  had  made  Cape  Horn 
in  her  time  exactly  —  fifty-one  days.  But  coming 
north,  we  were  caught  in  a  storm  and  had  to  lie-to 
for  a  week,  and  then  in  the  doldrums  (the  space  near 


Our  Arrival  and  Disposal  Made  of  Us    25 

the  equator  between  the  southern  and  northern  trade 
winds)  we  were  caught  for  some  eight  days  in  a  dead 
calm;  so  that  our  time  was  103  days. 

These  reminiscences  of  the  voyage  may  not  seem 
to  have  much  to  do  with  the  early  history  of  Congre- 
gationalism in  California.  If  I  need  to  apologize  for 
them,  lay  it  to  the  garrulity  of  an  old  fellow  who  re- 
members the  long  past  vividly  and  likes  to  talk  about 
it,  but  cannot  as  well  recall  the  deeds  or  experiences 
of  the  week  before  last. 

It  was  a  goodly  company  that  sailed  this  way  to- 
gether. Eight  of  us  were  j^oung  ministers,  the  oldest 
thirty-three,  the  youngest  (myself)  twenty-tw^o.  All 
of  us  were  blessed  with  wives  and  two  of  us  with 
three  children  each.  Then  there  was  a  Christian 
gentleman  who  rose  to  considerable  prominence  after- 
wards as  a  teacher  in  California;  and  he  had  a  wife 
and  two  children.  Our  captain  was  a  modest,  earnest 
Christian,  a  fine  officer  and  an  even  finer  friend.  We 
had  our  regular  studies,  our  Sunday  services,  our  club 
with  its  debates,  and  our  weekly  newspaper,  and  last 
but  not  least,  our  games  for  exercise;  so  that,  forget- 
ting the  wretched  two  weeks  spent  in  getting  our  sea- 
legs  on,  I  have  often  felt  that  if  ill  health  should  ever 
compel  me  to  take  my  ease  and  rest  for  three  months 
or  more,  I  would  meet  the  demand  by  taking  again  a 
voyage  around  Cape  Horn. 

I  have  already  said  that  I  was  one  of  a  band  of 
eight  missionaries.  We  were  sent  out  by  the  Ameri- 
can Home  Missionary  Society,  under  what  was  then 
called  the  Plan  of  Union  between  Congregatlonallsts 
and  Presbyterians  of  the  New^   School.     I  will  have 


26  Gospel  Pioneering 

more  to  say  about  this  hereafter.  For  the  present, 
suffice  it  to  add  that  the  eight  were  equally  divided 
between  the  two  denominations;  but  two  of  the  Con- 
gregationalists  were  destined  to  Oregon,  so  that  in  the 
California  delegation  the  Presbjterians  were  four,  the 
Congregationalists  two,  Rev.  J.  G.  Hale  and  myself. 

Before  our  arrival,  the  Home  Missionarj^  Society 
had  appointed  by  mail  a  committee  of  five  pastors, 
Congregational  and  New  School  Presbyterian,  Broth- 
ers Benton  of  Sacramento,  Hunt  and  Willey  of  San 
Francisco,  Warren  of  Nevada  City,  and  I  think,  Eli 
Corwin  of  San  Jose,  to  advise  us  as  to  our  locations. 
Of  all  these  and  of  all  that  group  of  missionaries,  I 
am  now  the  sole  survivor.  I  was  the  youngest  among 
them.  Among  pastors  already  here,  Mr.  Willey  was 
evidently  the  leader,  partly  by  formal  appointment, 
for  I  think  that  he  was  the  representative  of  the 
A.  H.  M.  S.  in  California,  "  ser^ang  for  nothing  and 
finding  himself."  I  never  can  forget  how  he  im- 
pressed me  on  my  first  sight  of  him,  an  impression 
which  deepened  as  I  came  closer  to  him  through 
somewhat  familiar  intercourse.  He  had  a  fine  form, 
tall  and  straight,  surmounted  by  a  fine  head,  the  face 
gleaming  with  intelligence  and  kindliness.  I  loved 
him  at  first  sight,  yet  stood  somewhat  in  awe  of  him. 
To  begin  with,  he  was  the  pioneer,  the  old-timer,  I 
the  newcomer.  Sixty  years  did  not  remove  from  me 
this  first  impression;  I  the  newcomer  by  his  side,  he 
the  one  that  knew,  I  the  one  to  learn. 

This  committee  lost  no  time  in  fulfilling  the  task 
assigned  them.  We  all  were  eager  to  get  at  work, 
and  the  expense  of  keeping  us  waiting,  as  prices  then 


Our  Arrival  and  Disposal  Made  of  Us    27 

ruled,  would  soon  empty  the  treasury  of  the  mission- 
ary society.  I  think  that  we  who  were  to  be  advised 
were  of  one  mind  about  accepting  the  advice.  In  our 
utter  ignorance  of  the  land  to  which  we  had  come, 
what  else  was  there  for  us  to  do?  As  for  myself,  I 
had  settled  it;  the  voice  of  the  committee  was  to  be 
for  me  as  the  very  voice  of  Christ  Himself. 

I  can  even  now  see  Mr.  Willey  as  in  giving  this 
advice  he  named  our  respective  destinations.  Mr. 
Walsworth  was  to  go  to  Marj^sville,  Mr.  Harmon  to 
Sonora,  the  county  seat  of  Tuolumne  County  and 
still  a  place  of  considerable  importance;  Mr.  Bell  to 
Columbia,  a  mining  town,  then  full  of  life,  now  dead. 
It  was  near  Sonora,  and  the  wives  of  these  two 
brethren  were  sisters.  Mr.  Pierpont  was  to  go  to 
Placerville,  the  county  seat  and  principal  city  in  what 
was  then  called  the  "  Empire  County,"  El  Dorado. 
Mr.  Hale  w^as  to  go  to  Grass  Valley  and  become  a 
close  neighbor  of  Mr.  Warren.  My  name  came  last, 
and  three  places  were  suggested:  Coloma,  where  gold 
was  first  discovered,  now  long  dead,  or  Los  Angeles  or 
North  San  Francisco.  This  really  meant  the  point  last 
named,  but  the  appointment  was  alternative  because 
Rev.  Isaac  H.  Bray  ton  had  come  to  the  city  a  little  in 
advance  of  us  and  was  considering  work  in  that  field. 
I  was  to  wait  for  his  decision.  I  did  thus  wait  for 
six  weeks,  not  altogether  patiently.  Indeed,  at  one 
time  I  stopped  waiting  and  started  for  Coloma,  spend- 
ing a  Sunday  in  Sacramento  with  Brother  Benton. 
But  during  that  Sunday  a  rain  fell  so  heavily  that  the 
road  to  Coloma  was  pronounced  to  be  impassable. 
Within  twentv-four  hours,  when  for  diversion  I  took 


28  Gospel  Pioneering 

a  steamer  for  Marysville  to  see  where  my  Brother 
Walsworth  was  working,  I  found  the  busy  little  city 
submerged,  people  getting  into  boats  from  second- 
story  windows,  and  I  turned  back  with  the  steamer's 
return,  and  finding  that  I  could  not  get  passage  to 
Coloma  for  at  least  two  weeks,  I  went  to  San  Fran- 
cisco. I  have  never  seen  the  spot  where  I  was  then 
proposing  to  invest  my  life.  If  I  were  to  see  it  now, 
I  should,  I  suppose,  find  nothing  there  except  the  soil. 

The  irksomeness  of  this  waiting  was  greatly  alle- 
viated by  the  generous  hospitality  of  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian family  that  had  come  from  my  home  city  of 
Bangor,  and  had  been  so  prospered  in  business  that 
on  a  hill  which  then  seemed  likely  to  become  the  court 
end  of  the  city,  they  had  built  its  finest  residence. 
They  made  my  wife  and  myself  their  welcome  guests, 
and  did  not  give  us  a  chance  to  imagine  that  we  were 
staying  too  long. 

At  length  the  leash  was  loosened  through  Mr.  Bray- 
ton's  decision  not  to  undertake  the  work  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  I  sprang  to  it  as  eagerly  as  ever  a  hound 
for  a  hunt.  I  looked  my  territory  all  over,  and  could 
find  no  hall  nor  even  an  empty  store  in  which  to 
make  my  beginning,  and  there  seemed  to  be  nothing 
to  do  but  to  build  wherever  I  could  find  a  site  for  a 
chapel  or  a  church.  Only  one  efifort  among  the  many 
of  this  sort  which  in  the  course  of  my  ministry  I  have 
been  called  to  make,  equals  this  in  the  pleasant  recol- 
lections with  which  it  enriched  me.  Hon.  R.  H. 
Waller,  Major  A.  B.  Eaton,  U.  S.  A.,  and  S.  M. 
Bowman,  Esq.,  who  consented  to  stand  behind  this 
joung   newcomer  as   trustees,   and   to  see   to   it  that 


Our  Arrival  and  Disposal  Made  of  Us    29 

money  contributed  was  wisely  used  and  faithfully  ac- 
counted for,  will  never,  even  in  eternity,  fade  from 
my  memory.  After  this  long  experience  with  men,  I 
wonder  at  their  kindness  and  courage  and  patient 
helpfulness.  I  think  that  not  only  these,  but  all  oth- 
ers who  stood  by  me  with  their  subscriptions,  have 
gone  to  their  reward.  Mr.  Edward  P.  Flint,  then 
very  young,  like  myself,  but  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
largest  firms  in  the  city,  was  the  largest  contributor. 
I  did  not  know  him  well,  and  went  to  his  office  with 
many  an  inward  struggle  and  unspoken  supplication. 
I  came  away  with  a  song  of  gratitude  on  my  lips  and 
a  subscription  of  two  hundred  dollars.  I  have  found 
in  "The  Home  Missionary"  of  September,  1853,  an 
extract  from  my  report,  from  which  it  appears  that 
the  building  with  its  furnishings  cost  $5,300,  toward 
which  $4,500  was  paid  soon  after  dedication.  I  copy 
this  extract  from  my  report: 

"  The  church  was  dedicated  two  and  a  half  months 
from  my  first  effort  in  connection  with  the  enterprise, 
and  five  weeks  from  the  first  stroke  of  the  spade  upon 
its  site." 

The  editorial  comment  upon  it  is:  "We  do  not 
recall  an  instance  of  equal  despatch  in  the  erection  of 
a  really  good  church  edifice,  or  one  that  better  illus- 
trates the  truth  that  '  where  there's  a  will  there's  a 
way.'  " 


30  Gospel  Pioneering 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CHANGES  OF  LOCAL  SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  OUR 
OWN  STATE.  1853-1855 

It  may  be  that  the  impressions  with  which  I  came, 
and  of  which  I  have  spoken,  have  colored  my  recol- 
lections of  the  conditions  which  I  found  existing  on 
my  arrival.  It  certainly  was  the  case  that  some  pro- 
phetic spirits  had  already  "  greeted  from  afar  "  what 
now  we  realize,  and  even  all  that  we  foresee.  But 
certainly  that  which  confronted  me  at  first  was  the 
absence  of  any  adequate  conception  of  the  part  which 
California  was  to  play  in  the  world's  future.  In  the 
first  place,  few,  very  few,  among  those  v/hom  I  met 
had  any  intention  or  thought  of  remaining  here.  It 
seems  to  me  that  when  a  stranger  was  introduced  to 
me,  or  I  to  him,  conversation  always  began  in  this 
way:  "How  do  you  do,  sir?  Happy  to  see  you; 
where  do  you  come  from?  How  long  are  you  going 
to  stay?" And  vivid  before  me  still  is  the  pic- 
ture of  the  eyes  opening  with  surprise  when  I  replied, 
"As  long  as  I  live,  sir."  A  state  made  up  almost 
wholly  of  people  eager  to  "  make  a  pile  and  go  home  " 
could  have  little  love  from  its  inhabitants,  little  esprit 
de  corps,  little  outlook  ahead,  and  a  careless  estimate, 
if  any  estimate  at  all  was  attempted,  of  its  possible 
future.  A  marked  change  of  outlook  took  place  that 
first  year,  San  Francisco  began  to  loom  up  in  the 
thought  of  the  people.  I  remember  vividly  a  lecture 
by  Rev.  Dr.  Speer,  a  returned  missionary  from  South 


Our  Arrival  and  Disposal  Made  of  Us    31 

China,  who  was  the  pioneer  in  missionary  effort  for 
the  Chinese  here.  In  this  speech  he  declared  with 
much  emphasis,  "  There  are  to  be  five  great  cities  on 
this  earth :  London,  New  York,  San  Francisco,  Shang- 
hai and  Constantinople."  It  opened  my  eyes  at  once, 
and  I  am  sure  that  I  was  far  from  being  alone  in  this. 
I  said  to  myself,  "  That  is  true." 

Then  the  permanent  agricultural  resources  of  the 
state  were  beginning  to  be  realized.  When  I  came, 
the  basis  of  everything  financial  in  the  state  was  the 
gold  mines;  but  before  even  my  first  year  was  spent, 
the  wealth  of  golden  grain  was  coming  slowly  into 
view.  I  have  already  referred  to  El  Dorado  County 
as  having  the  title  of  the  "  Empire  County."  If  this 
expression  was  used  as  to  political  or  any  other  con- 
ditions, it  was  as  distinctly  understood  to  refer  to  El 
Dorado  County  as  the  same  term  used  respecting  a 
state  is  still  understood  to  mean  New  York.  Legisla- 
tion was  controlled  here,  so  far  as  necessary,  in  the 
interest  of  miners  and  mining.  No  such  law  as  that 
which  has  closed  most  profitable  hydraulic  mining  in 
the  interest  of  agriculture,  would  have  been  proposed, 
much  less  considered  and  passed,  in  those  early  days. 

But  a  new  view,  the  now  controlling  view,  began 
to  be  discussed.  The  transitoriness  of  the  mines,  with 
the  probability  of  their  being  worked  out,  was  as- 
sumed. But  the  future  of  the  state,  as  founded  on 
its  agricultural  possibilities,  especially  in  view  of  ade- 
quate irrigation,  brightened  our  eastern  sky  and  led 
on  towards  a  settled  population  and  a  substantial 
growth. 

This  led  to  a  new  sense  of  political  responsibility. 


32  Gospel  Pioneering 

The  method  of  voting  at  that  time  invited  fraud.  I 
went  to  the  polls  and  after  standing  in  line  a  good 
while  announced  my  name  and  it  was  written  down. 
Then,  unless  some  one  challenged  my  vote,  it  was  de- 
posited. This  gave  abundant  scope  for  the  appeal, 
"Vote  early;  vote  ojien^  But  nobody  seemed  to 
care  except  those  who  hoped  to  fatten  at  the  public 
crib.  The  voters,  nine-tenths  of  them,  were  tran- 
sients, "  not  going  to  stay." 

As  early  as  1854  people  began  to  care.  The  Dem- 
ocratic Party's  nominations  were  supposed  to  be  equiv- 
alent to  an  election,  and  the  party  consequently  be- 
came utterly  corrupt,  so  that  the  people,  thoroughly 
aroused,  threw  it  out  and  elected  the  candidates  of  a 
new  party  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Know  Noth- 
ings." It  was  in  some  degree  a  secret  society,  and  in 
its  conclaves  it  provided  for  such  watchfulness  at  the 
polls  and  such  carefulness  in  the  countings  as  gave 
them  the  victory.  And  the  state  made  a  step  forward 
which  has  never  been  retraced. 

This  new  outlook  for  the  state  led  to  a  new  interest 
in  education.  My  earliest  recollection  of  public  school 
work  in  San  Francisco  gathers  about  Col.  T.  J.  Nevin, 
a  Congregational  Christian  w^ho,  when  I  began  my 
services  in  San  Francisco,  surprised  me  by  appearing 
in  the  congregation  and  undertaking  to  build  up  a 
Bible  class  there.  He  had  some  peculiarities,  which 
weighed  too  much  with  me,  and  I  did  not  esteem  him 
as  I  now  do.  But  his  heart  was  set  on  providing  edu- 
cation for  the  children  —  few  indeed,  then,  in  San 
Francisco.  The  state  had  very  large  resources  for 
this  purpose  in  land  given  it  by  the  national  govern- 


Changes  of  Local  Sentiment  33 

ment  when  the  state  was  received  into  the  Union ;  but 
it  had  little  money  for  the  purpose,  and  little  appre- 
ciation of  its  importance.  The  city  made  small  ap- 
propriations and  seemed  to  pay  them  grudgingly.  But 
Colonel  Nevin's  energy  in  connection  with  this  change 
in  general  feeling  respecting  this  state  as  one  to  live 
and  work  for,  wrought  a  change  for  the  better  whose 
fruits  appear  today  in  provisions  for  universal  educa- 
tion as  generous  and  complete  as  can  be  found  any- 
where in  the  world. 

I  have  found  in  the  "  Home  Missionary  "  of  May, 
1854,  ^"  appeal  written  by  myself  but  signed  by  a 
committee  of  the  presbytery  (New  School)  and  the 
association,  which  seems  to  me  to  set  forth  quite 
clearly  and  vividly  the  views  and  aspirations  to  which 
we  had  come  at  that  date,  and  with  which  I  conclude 
this  survey  of  what  I  may  call  the  social,  moral,  and 
political  environment  in  which  Congregationalism  was 
beginning  its  work  in  Californin,  except  so  far  as  these 
views  may  appear  in  the  stor}-  of  subsequent  years: 

''San  Francisco,  Jan.  31st,  1854. 
"  To  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society: 

"  The  undersigned,  at  a  joint  meeting  of  the  Pres- 
byter}^ of  San  Francisco  and  the  Congregational  As- 
sociation of  California,  were  appointed  a  Committee 
to  lay  before  you  facts  relating  to  the  destitution  of 
this  state,  and  the  claims  which  it  presents  upon  your 
continued  benevolence.  They  have  consented  to  dis- 
charge this  duty,  not  because  they  have  ever  discov- 
ered in  your  counsels  anything  bearing  even  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  disposition  to  ignore  those  claims.  I'hey 
would  do  injustice  to  their  own  and  to  the  universal 


34  Gospel  Pioneering 

feeling  of  their  brethren,  did  they  fail  at  the  outset, 
to  express  the  deep  gratitude  which  is  felt  for  the 
large-hearted  liberality  with  which  you  have  met  the 
calls  hitherto  made  upon  your  treasurj^  We  know 
that  those  calls  have  been  large;  we  know  that  only 
candor  and  broad  views  could  have  ever  made  them 
seem  otherwise  than  extravagant  to  those  who  have 
never  actually  experienced  the  state  of  things  which 
made  them  necessary. 

**  In  endeavoring  to  present  to  you  these  facts,  we 
feel  embarrassed  by  a  consciousness  that  our  knowl- 
edge is  very  incomplete.  Only  a  few  of  them,  prob- 
ably, compared  with  the  whole  number  actually  exist- 
ing, have  ever  come  within  the  range  of  our  ascertain- 
ment. For  they  must  come  to  us;  except  in  rare  cases 
we  cannot  go  after  them.  Burdened,  to  the  full  ex- 
tent of  our  strength  and  time,  in  our  particular  and 
immediate  fields  of  labor,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
act  as  explorers  and  pioneers.  And  it  is  so  easy  for 
even  truly  Christian  men  in  California,  breathing  its 
atmosphere  of  worldliness,  to  forget  temporarily  their 
higher  interests;  and  they  are  so  generally  undeter- 
mined to  make  this  state,  and  still  more,  any  partlcu- 
ular  locality  in  the  state,  a  home,  that  nowhere,  per- 
haps, in  our  whole  land,  are  such  explorations  so 
necessary^  as  here,  if  we  would  learn  truly  and  fully 
the  extent  and  pressure  of  its  destitutions.  While, 
then,  we  tell  you  what  we  know,  we  would  assure 
you  of  the  probability,  amounting  almost  to  a  cer- 
tainty, that  there  is  a  great  deal  more  which  we  do 
not  know;  for  the  intelligence  which  comes  to  us. 
comes  in  such  a  way  as  to  provoke  the  frequent  ex- 
clamation, 'What  shall  we  hear  next?" 

"  It  is  but  a  short  time  since  one  of  our  brethren 
was  surprised  by  an  application  from  the  town  of 
Petaluma  to  come  and  organize  there  a  Congrega- 
tional Church.  He  went,  organized  a  church  of 
twelve  excellent   members,   and   is  of  opinion   that  a 


Changes  of  Local  Sentiment  35 

man  ought  to  be  sent  there  at  once  to  minister  to 
them.  And  yet,  Petaluma  had  hardly  been  men- 
tioned before  that  in  our  conversations  about  the  dis- 
position of  our  little  forces.  Other  brethren  have 
been  surprised  in  like  manner  by  liberal  propositions 
from  different  towns  of  aid  in  erecting  churches,  pro- 
vided a  Presbyterian  or  Congregational  minister  could 
come  among  them. 

"  We  mention  these  things  simply  to  show  how 
such  intelligence  comes  to  us;  while,  from  our  knowl- 
edge of  California  and  Californians,  we  know  that 
those  places  of  which  we  hear  may  not  be  the  most 
necessitous,  but  that  in  other  places  there  may  be, 
though  we  know  it  not,  even  a  greater  number  of  the 
sheep  now  sinking  into  deadly  slumbers,  whom  the 
voice  of  a  shepherd  would  arouse  and  gather  into  a 
fold  and  make  to  become  richly  productive  for  the 
Kingdom  of  their  Saviour. 

"The  area  of  this  state  is  about  180,000  square 
miles.  Connected  with  the  denominations  which  are 
associated  in  your  society  there  are,  all  told,  fifteen 
ministers  in  active  service.  That  is,  we  have  one  min- 
ister on  the  average  to  12,000  square  miles,  an  area 
larger  than  the  whole  state  of  Vermont.  In  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  state  there  is  an  area  of  counties  con- 
secutively adjacent  amounting  to  70,000  square  miles, 
and  larger,  therefore,  than  all  New  England,  in  all 
of  which  there  is  not  a  single  minister  of  those  de- 
nominations in  active  service.  At  the  north  there  is 
a  district  as  large  and  in  the  same  destitute  condition. 
And  even  through  the  center  of  the  state  are  seven 
extensive  counties  in  the  same  situation. 

"  Nor  are  these  extensive  regions  deserts  in  any 
sense  of  the  term.  Not  only  are  they  capable  of  sus- 
taining a  population,  they  are  actually  being  populated. 
Many  of  these  counties  contained,  according  to  the 
census  of  1852,  a  population  of  from  six  to  ten  thou- 
sand  each.     Some  of  the  important   agricultural   and 


36  Gospel  Pioneering 

mining  towns  are  there.  In  the  southern  district  is 
San  Diego,  with  its  beautiful  harbor,  the  next  to  that 
of  San  Francisco  on  the  coast  of  California.  Here 
also  is  Los  Angeles,  one  of  our  most  beautiful  agri- 
cultural towns,  with  a  population  recently  estimated 
at  4,000.  The  trade  of  these  two  towns  with  San 
Francisco  is  sufficient  to  maintain  two  large  steamers 
in  constant  service.  In  this  southern  district  is  also 
Mariposa,  a  town  central  to  a  large  and  increasingly 
important  mining  and  agricultural  region,  where  al- 
ready a  considerable  population  is  gathered  and  the 
weekly  press  set  up.  This  southern  district  contained 
at  the  time  of  the  last  census  a  population  of  35,000. 

"  In  the  northern  district  mentioned  is  the  import- 
ant seaport  Crescent  City,  a  place  which  has  been 
very  rapidly  increasing  in  importance.  A  minister 
should  have  been  there  before  this  time.  It  is  the 
only  convenient  outlet  to  a  considerable  region  rich 
both  in  mineral  and  agricultural  resources;  and  its 
permanency  and  continued  growth  are  deemed  un- 
questionable by  all  those  who  are  acquainted  with  it. 
A  steamer  has  for  several  months  been  plying  between 
that  port  and  this,  sustained  by  the  trade  of  that  port 
alone;  and  by  a  recent  act  of  our  legislature  that  town 
is  made  the  county  seat  of  Klamath  County.  The 
region  around  Humboldt  Bay  should  also  receive  at 
once  the  attention  of  a  laborious,  energetic,  and  per- 
severing man.  It  is  a  station  where  hard  work  would 
be  called  for  and  would  be  rewarded.  There  are 
already  tvvo  or  three  towns  of  importance.  A  news- 
paper has  recently  been  started  at  one  of  them,  de- 
pending on  the  population  for  its  support. 

"  But  throughout  the  more  thickly  settled  center  of 
the  state  destitutions  are  even  more  numerous.  In 
Tuolumne  County  two  men  are  imperatively  needed. 
In  a  population  of  at  least  20,000  Rev.  Mr.  Harmon 
is  laboring  alone.  At  Murphy's,  a  very  important 
town    containing    a    population    of    at    least    2,000,  a 


Changes  of  Local  Sentiment  37 

church  might  at  once  be  gathered,  and  immediate  suc- 
cess would  almost  surely  attend  a  judicious  and  ener- 
getic effort.  At  Jamestown  and  Columbia  another 
man  should  be  stationed  at  once.  Taking  Sonora  as 
a  center,  with  a  radius  of  fifteen  miles,  5'ou  w^ould  en- 
compass a  rich  mining  region  thick  with  settlements 
and  bright  with  promise  to  the  Christian  laborer. 

"  In  Calaveras  County,  in  the  midst  of  a  mountain 
region  rich  in  gold,  is  a  valley  whose  picturesque 
beauty  and  evident  and  tested  fruitfulness  charm 
every  visitor.  It  is  called  lone  Valley.  It  is  destined 
to  be  a  rich  agricultural  district,  and  will  have  the 
best  of  markets  close  at  hand.  A  permanent  popula- 
tion is  gathering  rapidly  upon  it,  and  a  town  of  some 
importance  already  exists.  Those  brethren  who  have 
visited  it  express  themselves  very  strongly  as  to  the 
importance  of  at  once  stationing  a  minister  there. 
Without  a  doubt  a  church  might  almost  immediately 
be  gathered. 

**  Placer  and  Sierra  Counties,  containing  together 
a  population,  according  to  the  last  census,  of  15,639, 
and  having  the  important  mining  centers  Ophir,  Au- 
burn and  Downieville,  each  of  which  places  would 
furnish  abundant  work  for  one  man,  are  without  a 
single  laborer.  El  Dorado  County,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  40,000,  has  but  one.  Georgetown,  Diamond 
Springs  and  Mud  Springs  are  all  places  of  size  and 
note,  and  are  destitute. 

"  It  would  be  to  trespass  too  much  upon  your  val- 
uable time  to  mention  all  points  of  importance  which 
we  might  mention,  or  to  say  in  regard  to  these  all  that 
might  be  said.  We  know  not  what  other  opportuni- 
ties a  diligent  exploration  might  bring  to  light.  But 
in  regard  to  the  places  which  we  have  mentioned,  we 
can  say  this  confidently  that  in  no  part  of  the  Atlantic 
States  with  which  we  are  acquainted  would  such 
openings  be  allowed  to  remain  unentered.  They  are 
posts  of  labor  too  important  and  too  promising  to  be 


38  Gospel  Pioneering 

neglected.  If  we  should  ask  you  for  an  immediate 
reenforcement  of  a  dozen  men,  we  should  not  ask  as 
many  as  the  necessities  of  the  case  imperiously  demand. 
Can  you  not  give  us  something  like  that  number? 

"  We  do  not  ask  for  great  scholars,  though  the 
more  of  scholarship  men  have  the  better,  here  as 
elsewhere.  The  case  demands  men  of  piety,  of  en- 
ergy and  of  common  sense;  men  who  will  exhibit 
these  qualities  both  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it.  And 
if  there  are  such  men  to  be  had  and  they  want  fields 
where  their  devotion  and  their  energy  and  their  tact 
will  be  tested  —  fields,  too,  where  their  labors  will  be 
crowned  with  speedy  and  increasing  usefulness  —  let 
them  come  to  California. 

"  We  feel  deeply  that  it  would  be  in  your  hearts 
to  give  us  all  that  the  case  demands.  We  have  had 
proof  that  we  need  to  use  no  pleading  with  j^ou;  and 
we  know  and  think  we  fully  appreciate  the  fact  that 
the  ready  heart  and  the  open  hand  cannot  always  go 
together.  That  j'Ou  have  a  large  field  to  cultivate, 
that  from  various  quarters  of  our  country  appeals  like 
this  are  reaching  you  continually,  and  that  you  often 
pray  for  more  laborers  in  so  great  a  harvest  we  are 
sure.  And  that  the  ven^  heavy^  draft  which  a  few 
laborers  make  on  your  treasury  is  a  special  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  vour  work  upon  this  coast,  this  too  we 
feel. 

"  In  attempting  to  remove  this  obstacle,  we  are  not 
at  all  disposed  to  copy  the  example  of  those  who,  in 
attempting  to  benefit  California,  have  done  her  so 
vital  an  injury  by  sending  to  the  East  highly  inflated 
accounts  of  what  could  be  done  here  in  furnishing 
the  needful  funds.  We  have  reason  to  be  grateful 
that  the  officers  of  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society  have  never  been  thus  led  astray.  We  will  do 
what  we  can.  We  shall  be  able,  if  God  prospers  us 
as  He  has  done,  to  do  considerable.  In  a  country 
where   everything   is   so   changeable,    it   is   difficult    to 


Changes  of  Local  Sentimhnt  39 

say  how  much.  But  we  think  it  should  be  noted  that 
if  the  effort  draws  heavily  it  draws  briefly  in  each  in- 
dividual case.  At  least  it  has  done  so  thus  far.  On 
the  Atlantic  Slope  you  support  a  missionary  for  twelve 
years,  here  for  twelve  months,  and  then  you  begin  to 
be  repaid.  This  has  certainly  been  true  thus  far. 
If  but  little  has  been  paid  into  your  treasury  directly 
thus  far,  much  has  been  paid  for  your  cause;  and  an 
increasing  portion  of  the  pecuniary  effort  which  has 
thus  far  been  expended  in  the  erection  of  churches, 
and  the  speedy  assumption  of  our  independence  of 
your  aid,  will  go  in  the  future  to  the  same  cause 
through  the  treasury. 

"  But  to  us  in  the  midst  of  the  field,  it  seems  very 
evident  that  the  addition  of  so  large  and  so  important 
a  region  to  the  sphere  of  labor  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary^  Society  ought  to  be  the  signal  for  a  large 
increase  of  its  revenue.  The  churches  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  erecting  through  your  agency  a  Christian 
state  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  It  has  cost  nearly 
nine  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  more  than  thirty 
years  to  make  a  Christian  nation  of  the  Sandwich 
Islanders.  The  money  and  the  time  are  not  to  be 
mentioned  in  comparison  with  the  achievement.  But 
we  will  venture  the  prediction  altogether  fearlessly 
that  if  the  Christian  public  will  act  energetically  and 
pray  earnestly  for  California,  they  will  have  a  Chris- 
tian nation  here  for  a  fourth  that  sum  in  a  fourth  of 
that  time,  which  will  exert  ten  times  the  influence  for 
Christianity  which  those  Islands  now  do. 

"  We  institute  the  comparison,  not  for  the  sake  of 
disparaging  the  achievement  which  has  lately  been 
announced;  far  from  it.  None  hailed  the  announce- 
ment with  more  joy  than  we;  and  if  it  had  cost  nine 
hundred  millions,  instead  of  thousands,  it  would 
still  have  been  infinitely  w^orth  more  than  its  price. 
But  we  would  have  the  work  which  is  going  on  in 
this  land  viewed  in  its  true  light.     It  is  really,  even 


40  Gospel  Pioneering 

if  not  nominally,  the  founding  and  rearing  of  a  new 
Christian  state,  and  one  whose  influence  will  tell  for 
truth  the  world  over.  This  did  not  become  a  Chris- 
tian state  when  the  arms  of  a  Protestant  nation  con- 
quered it,  or  the  money  of  that  nation  bought  it;  it 
did  not  become  such  when  crowds  of  men,  claiming 
the  name  of  Christian,  came  to  dig  God's  gold  and 
profane  His  day,  His  book,  His  name,  in  all  these 
hills  and  valleys.  It  will  become  a  Christian  state 
when  sufficient  Christian  teachers  come  here  to  gather 
Christian  churches  and  to  bring  up  to  sacred  and  be- 
lieving recollection  the  doctrines  and  the  Cross  of 
Christ. 

"  And  it  is  for  the  churches  of  the  East  to  bring  this 
to  pass  or  not.  It  does  seem  to  us  in  the  midst  of 
our  toils  joyous  beyond  expression  —  save  in  the 
view,  continually  thrust  before  us,  of  priceless  oppor- 
tunities gliding  by  with  none  to  grasp  them  —  that 
the  churches  at  home  with  a  privilege  before  them  like 
that  which  this  country  is  presenting,  must  grasp  it 
and  fill  your  treasury  and  bid  j^ou  thrust  the  laborers 
upon  the  field. 

"  Let  no  one  think  California  is  safe.  She  is  not 
safe.  If  you  were  here,  you  would  see  it  so.  With 
a  heathen  population  rushing  in  upon  us;  with  a  reck- 
lessness of  old  restraints  a  chief  characteristic  of  our 
people;  with  all  forms  of  old  error  from  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe  germinating  rapidly  or  towering 
high,  giants  already  in  stature  while  young  in  years; 
with  a  general  disregard  of  the  Sabbath ;  w^ith  a  pub- 
lic press  corrupt  and  profligate;  and,  finally,  in  our 
isolation  from  all  established  Christian  states,  Cali- 
fornia is  not  safe.  And  our  hope  for  her,  God's  pur- 
poses aside,  is  just  as  great  as  our  hope  is  that  Chris- 
tians at  the  East  will  appreciate  her  importance  and 
her  necessities,  and  will  embrace  the  privilege  they 
have  of  starting  here  a  fountain,  the  streams  of  which 
shall  make  glad  the  city  of  our  God. 


Changes  of  Local  Sentiment  41 

"If  it  were  necessary,  we  might  mention  several 
peculiarities  of  this  field  which  entitle  it  in  justice  to 
a  large  share  in  the  charities  of  the  East.  The  con- 
tributors to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
are  getting  rich  from  California.  Wages  are  rising; 
produce  sells  at  a  higher  rate;  and  the  production  and 
consumption  of  California  are  the  cause  of  it.  Many 
of  your  merchants  live  in  Boston,  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, but  do  business  here  and  enjoy  Californian 
profits;  and  if  they  occasionally  experience  Californian 
losses,  they  are  nevertheless  growing  rich  from  Cali- 
fornia. Indeed,  it  is  a  common  assertion  that  only 
California  gold  has  saved  our  country  from  a  wide- 
spread bankruptcy. 

"  But  with  such  facts  as  these,  you,  gentlemen,  are 
familiar.  We  pray  you  to  do  for  us  all  that  you  can. 
Without  a  reinforcem.ent  equal  at  least  to  that  which 
arrived  last  spring,  the  cause  must  suffer  very  much; 
unless  Christians  at  the  East  sustain  you  in  such  an 
arrangement,  it  seems  to  us  certain  that  they  will  fail 
decidedly  to  meet  the  demands  of  their  Master  upon 
them. 

"  With  much  gratitude  and   respect, 
"  Yours  in  the  Gospel, 

"  Wm.  C.  Pond, 
"S.  S.   Harmon. 
"  J.  G.  Hale, 
"  Committee  of  the  Association  and  Presbytery." 

To  this  appeal  the  following  response  was  made: 
"  The  views  expressed  in  the  foregoing  communi- 
cation accord  with  those  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
and  only  strengthen  their  convictions  of  the  import- 
ance of  this  missionary  field.  The  past  strange  his- 
tory of  this  new  state,  its  present  prosperity  and  pros- 
pective growth,  the  energetic  but  reckless  character 
of  its  population,  its  commanding  position  in  reference 
to  the  heathen  world,  all  point  to  the  missionarj''  work 


42  Gospel  Pioneering 

undertaken  there  as  one  of  unsurpassed  urgency  and 
interest.  Nowhere  else  perhaps  in  the  world  will 
prompt  and  vigorous  effort  be  rewarded  with  such 
speedy  and  abundant  harvests;  nowhere  else  will  neg- 
lect and  delay  be  followed  with  such  loss  and  dis- 
aster. 

*'  In  this  appeal  they  hear  the  voice  of  the  great 
Captain  of  their  salvation  summoning  His  people  to 
go  up  and  possess  the  land.  Encouraged  by  past  suc- 
cess, and  in  confident  reliance  upon  the  liberal  support 
of  the  churches,  they  propose  to  make  a  favorable  re- 
sponse to  this  call." 

I  am  confident  that  two  paragraphs  in  my  manu- 
script were  omitted  in  the  publication  of  this  appeal. 
One  of  them  related  to  San  Francisco  and  its  harbor 
and  its  great  commercial  future ;  the  other  to  its  future 
as  an  educational  center  for  the  world.  Of  course  I  can- 
not repeat  word  for  word  w^hat  I  wrote ;  but  I  remem- 
ber saying  that  in  view  of  the  climate,  the  location 
midw^ay  between  the  Occident  and  the  Orient,  and  the 
wealth  which  would  be  accumulated  here,  a  generous 
share  of  which  would  go  to  sustain  educational  insti- 
tutions, there  would  arise  around  this  Bay  universities 
that  in  their  youth  would  rival  the  oldest  and  richest 
in  the  world.  The  former  paragraph  may  have  been 
omitted  as  unnecessary,  the  latter  as  too  visionary.  I 
myself  do  not  expect  to  live  to  see  that  vision  even 
approaching  fulfilment.  I  do  remember  that  some- 
where in  the  appeal  I  affirmed  that  the  time  was  surely 
coming  when  not  New  York  but  California  would  be 
the  "  Empire  State  "  in  our  Union  —  which  also  was 
omitted  perhaps  as  too  incredible.  But  I  believed  it 
then  and  I  believe  it  now.  Indeed,  no  one  with  open 
eves  can  doubt  it. 


Changes  of  Local  Sentiment  43 

I  realize  full  well  how  different  would  now  be  the 
Impression  as  to  points  which  should  be  occupied,  from 
that  presented  in  this  appeal.  Of  the  thirteen  towns 
mentioned,  only  four  are  now  occupied,  and  of  the 
nine  others  there  is  not  one  for  which  an  appeal 
would  now  be  made.  But  what  I  have  been  endeav- 
oring in  this  chapter  to  set  forth,  is  not  things  as  they 
now  are,  but  as  they  wxre,  or  seemed  to  be,  seventy 
years  ago.  My  impression  is  that  at  that  time  Los 
Angeles  and  San  Diego  would  have  been  tb^  last  ones 
provided  for. 


44  Gospel  Pionehring 


CHAPTER  V. 

UNION  VERSUS  UNITY 

Union  and  unity  are  not  synonymous  terms.  It 
was  unity  that  Jesus  prayed  for.  Unity  is  vital  and 
spiritual.  Union  may  be  only  artificial  and  super- 
ficial. When  unity  develops  union  by  a  natural, 
spontaneous  growth,  taking  it  on  as  a  body  made  alive 
by  the  one  Spirit  within,  then  union  is  most  desirable 
and  beautiful  and  practical ;  but  when  union  is  brought 
to  pass  by  diplomatic  manipulations,  when  it  is  held 
together  by  mutual  contracts,  mutual  material  inter- 
ests, carefully  drawn  compromises  in  doctrine  or  in 
plans  of  action,  then  is  it  often  poisonous  to  unity, 
developing  debates,  dissensions,  excisions.  And  it  is 
because  some  of  my  reminiscences  illustrate  this  that 
I  have  entitled  this  chapter  Union  versus  Unity. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  Unity  is  not  uni- 
formity. It  is  almost  the  antipodes  of  uniformity. 
Harmony  is  not  monotony.  Unity  in  diversity  is  a 
law  of  divine  operation  in  both  God's  physical  and  His 
spiritual  realms.  The  rich  music  of  the  forest  swayed 
by  the  wind  is  a  combination  of  the  notes  of  each  sev- 
eral leaf.  And  the  music  of  the  spheres  is  that  of 
even  apparently  counteracting  forces  operating  to- 
gether for  one  great  end. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  His  body,  not  the  corpse 
of  a  dead  Saviour,  but  the  body  of  one  alive  and  life- 
giving  evermore.  But  it  is  not  one  member,  as  Paul 
so  significantly  teaches  us,  but  many;   and   each   one 


Union  versus  Unity  45 

has  its  own  office,  through  the  faithful  exercise  of 
of  which  "  all  the  body  fitly  framed  and  knit  to- 
gether through  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  ac- 
cording to  the  working  in  due  measure  of  each  several 
part,  maketh  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  building 
up  of  itself  in  love."  This  is  a  picture  of  genuine 
unity,  whether  in  the  local  church  or  in  any  group 
of  cooperating  churches,  or  in  that  church  universal, 
the  real  Kingdom  of  God,  organized  invisibly  in  Jesus 
Christ  who  is  the  Head. 

I  have  referred  several  times  in  previous  chapters 
to  the  fact  that  Presbyterians  (New  School)  were 
connected  with  us  under  a  "  Plan  of  Union."  Both 
this  expression,  "  New  School  "  and  the  existence  of 
this  "  Plan  of  Union,"  may  belong  to  a  history  now 
too  ancient  to  be  familiar  to  a  majority  even  of  my 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  I  venture  to  explain 
them.  This  "  Plan  of  Union  "  dates  back  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  It  was  in  1766  that  the 
Presbyterian  Synod  (no  General  Assembly  having 
yet  been  created)  and  the  General  Association  of 
Connecticut  agreed  to  meet  in  an  annual  conven- 
tion in  order  to  unite  their  endeavors  to  "  spread  the 
Gospel  and  preserve  the  religious  liberties  of  the 
churches." 

This  continued  until,  in  the  dark  days  of  the  war 
with  the  mother  country,  these  gatherings  became 
almost  impossible;  but  in  1792  the  Union  was  re- 
newed, and  since  a  General  Assembly  had  now  come 
into  existence,  it  took  a  more  definite  form  in  what 
might  be  called  a  diplomatic  agreement,  first  with  the 
General   Association    of    Connecticut,  and  afterwards 


46  Gospel  Pioneering 

with  those  of  New  Hampshire,  Vermont  and  Mas- 
sachusetts. According  to  this  agreement,  these  as- 
sociations might  send  to  the  General  Assembly  three 
commissioners  each,  and  these  were  allowed  a  vote 
on  all  questions  that  arose.  It  was  further  agreed  in 
1 80 1  that  a  Congregational  church  might  have  a 
Presbyterian  pastor  without  his  withdrawing  from 
the  Presbytery,  and  a  Presbyterian  church  might 
have  a  Congregational  pastor  without  his  withdraw- 
ing from  the  Association.  And  I  can  almost  see  the 
genial  smile  with  which  the  Presbyterian  historian 
wrote:  "  By  the  operation  of  this  Plan  of  Union,  in 
thirty-six  years  fully  two  thousand  Congregational 
churches  became  Presbyterian,  modified  by  sending  a 
'committee  man '  to  the  Presbyter}^  and  in  many 
cases  these  committee  men  grew  naturally  into  genuine 
and  excellent  ruling  elders." 

But  this  commingling  of  Congregational  blood 
wrought  dissension  among  the  Presbyterians.  The 
Westminster  Confession  and  Catechism  could  not  be 
accepted  by  a  large  proportion  of  the  pastors,  especially 
in  New  York  and  the  states  west  of  it,  except  "  for 
substance  of  doctrine,"  and  much  of  their  preaching, 
aimed  as  it  was  at  leading  sinners  to  repentance,  had 
to  tone  down  the  ultra-Calvinistic  doctrines  respect- 
ing election  and  reprobation  as  elements  in  the  Divine 
sovereignty,  till  they  were  in  clear  contravention  of 
the  wording,  if  not  the  "  substance  of  doctrine,"  of 
the  standards.  Albert  Barnes  in  Philadelphia  and 
Lyman  Beecher  in  Cincinnati  were  arraigned  before 
their  presbyteries  and  deposed,  but  afterwards  were 
reinstated  upon  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly. 


Union  versus  Unity  47 

At  length,  in  the  General  Assembly  of  1837,  the 
Conservatives,  finding  themselves  a  majority,  small 
but  solid,  at  one  fell  stroke,  in  the  interest  doubtless 
of  truth  and  for  the  glory  of  Christ  (!),  exscinded 
three  s^^nods  in  New  York  and  one  in  Ohio,  virtually 
excommunicating  the  whole  membership ;  and  when 
in  the  next  year  these  synods,  elders  and  all,  in  rebel- 
lion against  this  lawless  despotism  appeared  by  their 
commissioners  at  the  General  Assembly,  they  were  re- 
fused admission.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  another 
Presbyterian  Church  appeared,  composed  of  these  ex- 
scinded synods  and  others  who  sympathized  with  them. 
If  I  remember  correctly,  this  body  called  itself  "  The 
Constitutional  Presbyterian  Church,"  but  it  was  pop- 
ularly known  as  the  ''  New  School,"  whence  the  other 
party  came  to  be  known  as  "  Old  School  " ;  and  so  in 
the  little  villages  of  the  West  you  would  find  two 
Presbyterian  churches  where  one  could  scarcely  live, 
utterly  out  of  fellowship  with  each  other. 

And  here  in  passing  let  me  say  that  in  all  this  we 
have  an  illustration  of  the  truth  set  forth  in  the  title 
to  this  chapter,  larger  and  sadder  than  any  which  my 
reminiscences  can  give.  But  these  later  and  lesser 
ones  are  also  worth  studying. 

The  "  Old  School  "  Assembly  broke  away  from  the 
already  ancient  Plan  of  Union.  The  "  New  School  " 
body  adhered  to  it,  and  did  its  foreign  missionary 
work  with  us  through  the  American  Board,  and  its 
work  in  our  own  country  through  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society.  Accordingly  the  General 
Association  of  California  and  the  body  known  as  the 
New   School    Presbvterv   held   their   annual   meetings 


48  Gospel  Pioneering 

at  the  same  place  and  time.  All  the  business  was 
transacted  in  what  we  called  *'  joint  meetings,"  at 
which  we  considered  the  subjects  or  projects  that 
came  up  for  consideration  precisely  as  if  we  all  be- 
longed to  one  denomination.  And  it  was  only  after 
all  the  business  before  us  had  been  fully  considered 
and  acted  upon,  that  each  body  met  in  its  own  session 
and  went  through  the  form  of  adopting  whatever  had 
been  adopted,  and  entering  the  whole  on  the  records 
without  further  discussion. 

One  could  hardly  conceive  of  a  plan  of  union  more 
nearly  perfect  than  this.  But  it  was  an  artificial 
union.  We  were  tied  together,  and  the  knot  held  for 
several  years,  but  with  what  effect?  Mutual  jealousy, 
which  often  came  close  to  the  destruction  of  unity. 
From  our  New  School  Presbyterian  brethren  would 
come  up  the  complaint  that  the  other  party  to  the 
Union  was  planning  to  "  Congregationalize  the  state." 
It  may  be  that  a  similar  complaint  arose  from  our 
side  of  the  house,  but  I  never  heard  of  it.  It  was  the 
understanding  on  which  these  two  denominations 
worked  together  that  any  company  of  Christians  pro- 
posing to  organize  a  church  and  to  seek  the  aid  of  the 
A.  H.  M.  S.  for  its  support,  was  to  choose  freely  and 
without  influence  from  any  outside  quarter  whether 
it  would  be  Presbyterian  or  Congregational. 

Yet  it  was  a  recent  tradition  in  1853,  and  one 
never  denied  at  that  time,  that  when  a  representative 
of  the  A.  H.  M.  S.  went  to  San  Jose  to  organize  a 
church,  he  found  a  body  of  New  England  Congrega- 
tionalists  there  and  that  they  proposed  to  make  it 
Congregational.     He  labored  with  them  long,  saying 


Union  versus  Unity  49 

that  *'  a  strong  government  was  necessary  In  these 
frontier  fields."  To  his  urgency  the  little  company 
yielded  so  far  as  to  allow  the  little  church  to  bear 
the  name  of  Presbyterian,  but  with  no  session  and  no 
ecclesiastical  relation  to  the  Presbytery.  And  this 
continued  to  be  the  case  for  more  than  ten  years.  It 
was  also  a  tradition  that  this  same  missionary  went 
to  Santa  Cruz  to  organize  a  church,  and  began  the 
same  process  of  persuasion,  but  without  success.  He 
was  told  that  if  he  could  not  aid  them  in  organizing 
a  Congregational  church,  he  might  go  home.  It  is 
due  to  their  obstinate  stand  for  their  right  to  be  what 
they  preferred  to  be,  that  we  owe  the  useful  life  of 
our  church  in  that  city  during  now  much  more  than 
half  a  century. 

As  I  look  back  on  that  first  year  of  my  service  in 
the  ministry,  I  am  surprised  that  no  break  in  the  ap- 
parent unity  took  place,  notwithstanding  such  occur- 
rences of  which  I  have  just  now  written.  For  in  the 
East  the  discussion  of  our  mutual  relations,  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  in  the  work  of  the  Home  Missionary 
Society  it  was  found  that  two-thirds  of  the  funds  came 
from  Congregational  sources  and  two-thirds  went  to 
Presbyterian  undertakings,  and  in  view  of  other  facts 
to  which  I  will  soon  allude,  had  become,  while  always 
courteous,  decidedly  warm. 

Some  pastors  and  laymen  living  in  New  York  and 
the  states  west  of  it,  made  the  discovery  to  which 
New  England  Congregationalists  had  somehow  been 
blinded,  that  their  polity  was  worthy  to  be  upheld, 
and  among  these  were  Henry  C.  Bowen,  a  prominent 
merchant  of  New  York,  and  Rev.  T.  C.  Holbrook  of 


50  Gospel  Pioneering 

Dubuque,  Iowa.  The  former  with  others  likeminded 
ventured  to  organize  in  New  York  City  the  Taber- 
nacle Church,  an  invasion  of  Presbyterian  territory 
so  monstrous  that  the  death  of  this  Congregationalist 
intruder  was  in  many  quarters  expected  to  occur 
within  its  first  year.  I  remember  distinctly  hearing 
this  matter  discussed  at  my  father's  table,  to  which 
Congregational  ministers  were  often  invited.  Then  a 
further  and  still  bolder  innovation  occurred,  in  the 
establishment  of  a  Congregational  newspaper  in  that 
city  under  the  name  of  "  The  Independent."  There 
were  two  Presbyterian  papers,  one  Old  School  and 
the  other  New  School,  the  former  "  The  Observer," 
the  latter  "  The  Evangelist."  How  could  there  be 
room  for  another.  Congregational?  But  Dr.  Leonard 
Bacon,  Dr.  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  and  young  Richard 
S.  Storrs  were  to  be  the  editors,  and  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  was  to  be  a  weekly  contributor;  and  such  a 
combination  of  ability,  vitality  and  influence  put  the 
paper  in  a  place  of  power  at  once.  Its  chief  Western 
correspondent  was  the  brother  whom  I  have  already 
named.  Rev.  J.  C.  Holbrook. 

I  remember  reading  the  first  issue  of  this  paper  and 
being  captivated  by  it.  I  remember  also  that  the  first 
article  on  the  first  page  w^as  always  signed  by  the 
initials  J.  C.  H.  There  was  a  frankness  and  cour- 
age, as  well  as  candor  and  clearness,  about  these  arti- 
cles which  caused  them  to  be  invariably  the  first  ones 
read  by  me.  As  I  remember  them,  they  all  centered 
in  this  one  claim,  the  right  of  a  minister  to  be  a  Con- 
gregationalist and  to  stand  for  Congregationalism  in 
what  was  then   called   the  Far  West,   and  the  right 


Union  versus  Unity  51 

and  duty  of  Congregatlonalists  to  give  the  newer  re- 
gions of  our  country  the  blessings  that  our  polity  was 
fitted  to  convey.  He  demonstrated  the  fitness  of  our 
polity  for  pioneer  work  by  showing  the  success  which 
had  attended  the  churches  already  established.  He 
showed  the  ease  with  which  our  polity  yields  itself  to 
the  use  of  Christians  of  various  denominations  desir- 
ing to  establish  in  a  new  town  one  strong  union  church 
instead  of  three  or  four  rival  churches  sick  and  half 
starved.  He  illustrated  the  readiness  with  which  such 
churches  found  fellowship  among  us  and  were  aided 
by  us,  the  liberty  of  thought  among  us,  opening  the 
way  for  a  welcome  to  whatever  light  might  break 
forth  out  of  God's  Word.  These  elements  of  Con- 
gregationalism and  others  were  dwelt  upon  in  such  a 
way  as  not  only  to  show  that  no  other  polity  is  so  good 
as  this  for  frontier  work,  and  that  therefore  it  ought 
to  have  at  last  a  fair  chance;  but  also  to  turn  the  tide 
of  feeling,  East  as  well  as  West,  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
more  reasonable  and  more  useful  to  stand  fast  in  the 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free,  than  it  is 
to  stand  fast  for  doctrinal  "  traditions  of  men,"  for 
the  "  five  points  of  Calvinism  "  or  any  other  system 
of  man-made  philosophy  of  religion.  At  the  same  time 
Dr.  Holbook  valiantly  defended  the  substantial  or- 
thodoxy of  Congregational  churches  and  pastors  in 
the  West,  as  against  the  insinuations  that  had  bred 
distrust  of  them  even  in  New  England,  as  though 
they  insisted  on  being  Congregational  in  order  that 
they  might  not  be  disturbed  in  their  heterodox  teach- 
ings. 

It  was  a  real  revolution  which  was  thus  produced 


52  Gospel  Pioneering 

among  New  England  Congregationalists.  Students 
graduating  from  Andover  Seminary  were  no  longer 
advised  to  become  Presbyterians  if  they  came  West. 
The  tradition  which  had  been  quite  generally  ac- 
quiesced in,  that  the  proper  western  boundary  of  Con- 
gregationalism was  the  Byram  River,  a  small  stream 
running  along  the  western  line  of  Connecticut,  was 
discarded,  and  Congregationalists  were  urged  that  by 
right  and  by  virtue  of  a  call  of  solemn  duty  we  should 
claim  that  "  the  boundless  continent  is  ours." 

I  said  above  that  considering  this  aroused  senti- 
ment among  Congregationalists  in  the  East,  I  am  sur- 
prised that  no  break  occurred  in  our  union  or  our 
seeming  unity,  in  view  of  such  contraventions  as  I  re- 
ferred to  of  the  unwritten  but  real  agreement  between 
the  two  parties  in  the  "  Plan  of  Union."  Being  in 
San  Francisco,  I  probably  should  have  discovered  a 
rising  discontent,  if  any  had  existed,  in  Congrega- 
tional quarters.  Indeed,  it  is  a  surprise  to  me  now  in 
looking  back  to  realize  that  even  so  staunch  and 
ardent  a  Congregationalist  as  I  had  come  to  be  was 
undisturbed  by  them. 

I  remember,  however,  being  sternly  rebuked  by  the 
pastor  of  the  church  in  San  Jose,  himself  afterwards 
a  zealous  Congregationalist,  because  as  correspondent 
of  our  Boston  weekly  I  had  referred  to  the  strange 
state  of  things  here  —  a  Presbyterian  church  with  no 
session  and  no  relation  to  the  Presbyter}^  As  to  my- 
self, I  can  with  absolute  truthfulness  affirm  that  I  was 
careful  to  do  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  honorable 
under  the  Plan  of  Union.  Although  both  of  the 
churches  w^hich  I  organized  before  we  were  set  free 


Union  versus  Unity  53 

from  the  shackles  of  that  plan,  became  Congrega- 
tional,  I  am  sure  that  ft  was  not  through  any  persua- 
sions of  mine.  I  stated  the  option  which  the  brethren 
had  and  gave  them  the  opportunity  of  using  it;  and 
in  our  joint  meetings  I  was  conscious  of  a  purpose  to 
speak  and  act  as  if  we  were  not  two  but  one. 

I  remember  with  undying  interest  the  first  meeting 
of  our  Association  which  I  attended.  It  was  held  at 
Nevada  City,  and  almost  all,  perhaps  all,  of  our  min- 
isters were  present.  The  journey  was  a  long  one. 
We  left  San  Francisco  by  steamboat  in  the  afternoon 
and  reached  Sacramento  the  next  morning.  We 
staged  it  from  there  to  Nevada  City,  about  ninety 
miles.  The  first  thirty  or  more  were  across  the  Sac- 
ramento Valley,  as  yet  unbroken  by  the  plough.  The 
abundant  rains  that  had  flooded  the  valley  in  the  win- 
ter had  left  the  soil  in  good  condition  for  the  produc- 
tion of  its  native  flowers.  The  surface  was  not  flat 
but  wind  blown  through  the  years  into  low  and  long 
ridges;  so  that,  as  I  looked  out  over  the  expanse  from 
the  top  of  the  stage,  they  seemed  like  the  waves  of  a 
flowery  sea.  I  think  I  have  never  since  seen  any- 
thing of  the  sort  quite  so  beautiful.  No  desert  land 
was  that.  Ascending  at  length  the  foothills,  and  ever 
and  anon  invited  to  walk  out  of  pity  for  weary  steeds, 
I  saw  here  and  there  a  miner  with  his  cradle  and  his 
pan  practising  the  infant  art  which  by  and  by  I  was 
to  see  turning  the  course  of  rivers,  piercing  the  moun- 
tains, bringing  low  high  hills  with  the  tremendous 
force  of  the  water  brought  from  far  and  dropping 
ninety  feet  or  more. 

Nevada  City  interested  me  greatly.     It  is  an  inter- 


54  Gospel  Pioxeering 

esting  city  still.  It  and  its  near  neighbor,  Grass  Val- 
ley, have  survived  the  uncertainties  of  mining  better, 
I  think,  than  any  others  of  the  once  hustling  mining 
towns.  We  found  there  a  newly  finished  and  fur- 
nished church  building,  patterned  after  the  standard 
New  England  village  edifice.  It  had  cost  eight  thou- 
sand dollars.  It  had  its  church  bell  which  called 
together  audiences  such  as  it  was  a  privilege  and 
pleasure  to  address.  There  were  cordial  welcomes  to 
such  hospitalities  as  pioneer  conditions  would  admit 
of;  and  the  discussions  were  concerning  great  enter- 
prises in  the  domains  of  morals,  education  and  religion. 
Among  them  was  a  prohibitory  liquor  law,  upon  which 
the  people  were  somehow  to  vote  at  the  next  election, 
and  a  college.  We  were  not  so  numerous  then  as  to 
render  it  impossible  to  give  every  one  a  chance  to 
speak  frankly  and  fully  of  the  work  he  had  in  hand, 
and  to  intersperse  with  these  reports  prayers  one  for 
the  other.  The  only  part  which  I,  the  youngest  of 
them  all,  ventured  to  take,  was  to  preach  on  one  even- 
ing and  to  express  congratulations  in  response  to  a 
report  from  Mr.  Bell  that  he  would  soon  leave  Co- 
lumbia to  undertake  the  gathering  in  Oakland  of  a 
Presbyterian  Church.  There  were  special  reasons  for 
my  doing  this  which  need  not  be  recited  here. 

The  next  gathering  of  ministers  of  these  two  de- 
nominations thus  (one  w^ould  say)  happily  yoked  to- 
gether, which  has  left  any  special  reminiscence  with 
me,  had  for  its  intent  the  beginning  of  practical  en- 
deavors for  the  establishment  of  a  Christian  college, 
the  very  one  which  at  length  developed  into  the  Col- 
lege of  California  and  was  afterwards  transferred  *o 


Union  versus  Unity  55 

the  state  and  is  now  its  University.  We  were  select- 
ing a  number  of  Christian  men,  mainly  laymen,  I  be- 
lieve, to  constitute  its  first  board  of  trustees,  and  I 
looked  on  somewhat  amused  at  the  carefulness  exer- 
cised to  have  exactly  one-half  of  them  Presbyterians 
and  one-half  Congregationalists.  Major  A.  B.  Eaton, 
U.  S.  A,  one  of  God's  noblemen  both  by  nature  and 
grace,  an  elder  in  the  Howard  Church,  was  named  as 
a  Presbyterian.  Now  he  had  been  my  chief  counsel- 
lor and  helper  in  my  work,  and  had  said  to  me  more 
than  once,  "  It  seems  strange  that  though  I  am  a  Con- 
gregationalist  in  principle  and  preference,  it  always 
falls  to  my  lot  to  work  in  Presbyterian  churches." 
So  when  my  Presbterian  brethren  were  putting  him 
forward  as  one  of  their  representatives,  I  said,  as  a 
piece  of  pleasantrj^  "  Look  out,  you  Presbyterians, 
Major  Eaton  is  a  Congregationalist !  "  It  seems  to 
me  that  if  I  had  touched  a  lighted  match  to  a  can  of 
powder,  there  could  have  been  no  greater  commotion. 
I  don't  remember  how  it  ended,  but  I  can  never  forget 
the  rebuke  administered  to  me  by  Mr.  Willey.  The 
words  were  few  and  not  discourteous,  for  I  cannot 
conceive  of  him  as  guilty  of  discourtesy;  but  I  know 
that  I  wilted  under  them  and  learned  a  new  lesson 
which  subsequent  years  have  wrought  into  the  very 
texture  of  my  thought  about  Union  as  contrasted 
with  Unity. 

We  continued  to  hold  these  joint  meetings  and  to 
ratify  the  action  taken  at  them  at  separate  meetings 
without  further  discussion  till  i860,  when  a  discus- 
sion arose  respecting  the  American  Home  Missionar}' 
Society,  of  which  no  trace  appears  in  the  minutes,  hut 


56  Gospel  Pioneering 

which  changed  materially  the  attitude  of  the  two  bodies 
towards  each  other.  The  resolution  as  adopted  by  us 
was  reported  by  Rev.  B.  N.  Seymour  and  Rev.  E.  S. 
Lacy,  and  read  as  follows: 

"  Whereas,  there  is  in  California  a  great  and  press- 
ing need  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and 

"  Whereas,  our  chief  help  in  times  past  for  their 
supply  and  support  has  been  the  A.  H.  M.  Society, 
and 

"  Whereas,  we  have  still  mainly  to  rely  upon  that 
Society  in  the  future  for  assistance,  therefore 

"  Resolved,  that  California  owes  to  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society  a  debt  which  will  bind  us 
to  it  with  tenderest  ties: 

"  2.  That  we  feel  perfectly  satisfied  with  its 
catholic  basis  of  operation,  its  impartial  and  even- 
handed  distribution  of  funds  among  us  as  committed 
to  its  care,  and  its  capacity  to  meet  all  the  needs  of  a 
Home  Missionary  Society  in  this  state;  and  we  cor- 
dially commend  it  to  our  churches  and  people  as  wor- 
thy of  entire  confidence  and  hearty  support." 

Such  a  report  read  now  sixty-one  years  after  its 
adoption,  certainly  looks  harmless  enough.  Possibly, 
however,  even  now  one  scrutinizing  it  carefully  would 
see  in  its  preamble  a  recital  of  facts  so  manifest  as 
scarcely  to  need  assertion,  and  even  to  suggest  that 
the  gratitude  expressed  was  of  the  sort  defined  as 
"  a  lively  sense  of  favors  yet  to  come."  Then,  study- 
ing its  resolutions  one  possibly  would  feel  a  certain 
strong,  emphatic  pulse  which  the  subject  matter  hardly 
justifies. 

The  fact  is  that  the  report  was  the  outcome  of  a 
long  and  warm  debate  in  which  we  Congregationalists 
affirmed   unanimouslv  the   facts   stated   in   the   resolu- 


Union  versus  Unity  57 

tions;  while  our  Presbyterian  brethren  with  almost 
equal  unanimity,  without  distinctly  denying  the  truth 
of  the  statements  made,  opposed  their  adoption.  The 
debate,  as  I  remember  it,  began  on  a  Saturday  after- 
noon and  was  continued  well  into  the  evening,  and 
the  resolutions  were  finally  adopted  by  a  decisive 
majority,  made  up,  however,  as  the  Presbyterians 
affirmed,  by  the  fact  that  the  First  Congregational 
Church  in  San  Francisco  was  represented  in  the  joint 
meeting  by  its  pastor  and  no  less  than  ten  delegates. 
I  doubt  whether  I  then  understood  their  real  reasons 
for  opposing  so  harmless  a  deliverance  as  this  seems 
to  be.  I  certainly  do  not  understand  them  now.  Cer- 
tainly there  was  no  partiality  shown  by  the  A.  H. 
M.  S.  to  Congregationalists  or  Congregationalism. 
Dr.  Warren  in  a  paper  prepared  for  the  meeting  of 
our  General  Association  at  the  close  of  its  first  de- 
cade, states  that  of  the  twenty-three  missionaries  sent 
out  by  the  Society  "  while  it  worked  under  the  Plan 
of  Union,"  fifteen  were  Presbyterians  and  eight  were 
Congregationalists.  And  I  am  sure  that  the  funds 
expended  were  in  about  the  same  proportion.  How- 
ever, the  vote  having  been  taken  too  late  in  the  eve- 
ning for  the  two  bodies  to  meet  separately,  according 
to  our  custom,  and  go  through  the  formal  process  of 
entering  on  their  records  the  action  taken  at  the  "  joint 
meeting,"  each  body  adjourned  to  meet  on  Monday 
morning. 

We  had  our  usual  joint  meetings  on  Sunday,  not 
for  business  but  for  worship  and  preaching,  and  as- 
sembled on  Monday,  each  body  by  itself,  to  complete 
the  business.     While  this  was  going  on  in  our  meet- 


58  Gospel  Pioneering 

ing,  a  deputation  from  the  Synod  appeared  asking  that 
they  be  excused  from  adopting  the  endorsement  of  the 
A.  H.  M.  S.  which  had  been  passed  by  the  joint  meet- 
ing. I  was  moderator  that  year  and  was  presiding. 
While  others  seemed  to  hesitate,  I  saw  in  this  request 
an  open  door  for  us  to  liberty;  for  the  Plan  of  Union 
had  really  put  us  in  bondage.  The  intense  and  pro- 
longed discussion  of  Saturday  had  shown  us  clearly 
that  union  was  not  fostering  unity,  but  rather  was 
destroying  it;  that  each  of  the  two  bodies  chafed 
under  its  invisible  but  severe  restraint;  that  no  Con- 
gregationalist  could  represent  the  Home  Missionar}' 
Society  in  California  without  being  accused  of  Con- 
gregationalizing  the  state,  however  cautious  he  might 
be  to  avoid  sectarian  action.  Accordingly,  I  stepped 
out  from  the  chair  and  asked  the  deputation  if  they 
had  carefully  weighed  their  request;  if  they  had  seen 
that  it  broke  a  precedent  hitherto  inviolate  and  sacred, 
and  that  hereafter  no  decision  reached  in  the  joint 
meeting  would  control  the  action  of  either  body. 
They  replied,  as  I  hoped  they  would,  that  they  had 
considered  all  this.  Whereupon  I  earnestly  urged 
that  we  relieve  our  brethren  from  any  such  obliga- 
tions, and  this  was  carried.  And  though  we  contin- 
ued to  meet  at  the  same  time  and  place  and  had  union 
meetings  for  worship,  my  recollection  is  that  no  "  joint 
meeting  "  for  business  was  ever  held  again. 

I  suppose  that  New  School  Presbyterian  churches 
were  still  aided  by  the  A.  H.  IVI.  S.  till  1869,  when 
the  schism  ceased  and  the  New  School  and  Old  School 
bodies  cam.e  together,  agreeing  to  prosecute  their  mis- 
sionary work   both   Home   and   Foreign   through   the 


Union  versus  Unity  59 

denominational  Boards,  and  the  A.  H.  M.  S.  was  left 
to  represent  and  act  for  the  Congregational  churches 
alone.  Since  then  there  has  been  a  growing  unity  be- 
tween these  great  bodies  of  Christian  people.  So  far 
as  I  know  there  has  been  no  real  chafing  between  them, 
and  the  comity  of  which  we  Congregationalists  have 
always  been  the  advocates  has  been  reciprocated  by 
our  Presbyterian  brethren  in  several  marked  instances. 
And  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  leap  over  intervening 
years  in  a  few  words  of  glad  and  grateful  reminis- 
cence, I  will  say  that  no  sweeter  fellowship  has  ever 
in  my  experience  existed  between  two  neighboring 
churches  than  grew  up  between  the  Trinity  Pres- 
byterian and  Bethany  Congregational  churches  in 
San  Francisco  in  the  closing  years  of  my  pastorate. 
We  observed  Thanksgiving  Day  together,  the  Trinity 
pastor  preaching  at  Bethany  one  year  and  the  Bethany 
pastor  at  Trinity  on  the  next;  and  the  size  of  the  au- 
diences was  such  as  showed  how  much  w^e  liked  to 
meet  together.  We  observed  the  Week  of  Prayer  to- 
gether year  after  year  and  worked  together  in  evangel- 
istic campaigns,  and  I  am  sure  that  each  church  re- 
joiced in  the  prosperity  of  the  other.  It  was  unity 
without  the  bonds  of  union. 

A  few  words  more  respecting  the  bearing  of  this 
unity  through  liberty  upon  the  meetings  of  our  Gen- 
eral Association,  now  better  named  our  State  Con- 
ference. One  thing  that  I  observed  with  surprise  at 
the  very  beginning  of  this  close  reunion  with  our 
Presbyterian  brethren  was  the  apparent  amusement 
with  which  in  talking  about  recent  meetings  of  Pres- 
bvterv  or  Svnod    thev   would    tell    how   some   brother 


bo  Gospel  Pioneering 

**  threw  hot  shot  "  at  another,  or  of  some  sharp  re- 
partee that  in  some  intense  debate  was  lodged  like  an 
arrow  in  some  debater's  breast.  Occasionally  I  have 
attended  these  meetings,  and  may  have  been  strangely 
unfortunate  in  those  upon  which  I  have  fallen,  but 
I  cannot  remember  even  so  much  as  one  in  which  I 
failed  to  find  some  trace  at  least  of  this  peculiarity, 
whereas  in  these  sixty-seven  years  in  which  I  have 
been  absent  from  but  two  or  three  of  the  meetings  of 
our  Association,  I  have  never  but  once  heard  an  angry 
word  uttered,  and  that  was  when  a  talkative  brother 
was  called  to  order  because  he  was  exceeding  the  time 
allotted  him. 

It  is  not  because  we  have  been  better  men,  more 
peaceable  and  courteous  than  our  neighbors,  far  other- 
wise; but  because  we  have  a  better  system,  the  very 
life-blood  of  which  is  in  the  ancient  saying,  "  In  es- 
sentials unity,  in  non-essentials  liberty,  and  in  all 
things  charity."  We  exercise  no  lordship  over  one 
another;  we  differ,  discuss,  resolve,  but  never  vdth 
the  whip-hand  in  any  one's  possession,  or  even  in  that 
of  the  Conference  itself. 

The  present  outreach  for  union  of  Christians  of 
every  sort  in  one  ecclesiastical  organization  is  blind 
to  the  lessons  of  the  past,  and  not  attent  to  the  teach- 
ings of  the  New  Testament.  It  was  not  such  a  union 
that  Christ  prayed  for.  He  prayed  for  unity,  and  to 
this  we  are  approaching  like  different  divisions  in  one 
great  army  of  the  Lord,  not  required  to  call  any  man 
master,  but  dwelling  and  working  each  in  the  place 
and   the  M^ay  appointed  him   by  the  indwelling  Lord, 


Union  versus  Unity  6i 

and   thus  coming  into   "  the  unity  of  the   Spirit  and 
the  bond  of  peace." 

Since  writing  the  above,  my  eye  has  fallen  upon  the 
following  testimony  from  our  first  and  truly  great 
pioneer,  Rev.  A.  J.  Benton,  D.D.,  given  at  the  meet- 
ing of  our  General  Association  in  1870: 

"  Our  Congregationalism  has  proven  itself  a  polity 
promotive  of  harmony  and  good  will.  It  has  here  felt 
no  quarrel.  It  has  produced  no  unpleasant  frictions. 
It  has  been  disturbed  by  no  jealousies.  It  has  wit- 
nessed none  but  the  most  generous  rivalries.  Not  a 
harsh  measure  has  been  adopted.  Not  a  single  unkind 
word  has  been  spoken.  Not  an  unworthy  feeling  has 
been  indulged.  Nowhere  has  a  root  of  bitterness  been 
planted.  Each  has  given  the  other  his  liberty  and 
has  greatly  enjoyed  his  own.  Simple  loyalty  to  the 
Master  and  sympathy  for  the  cause  have  been  the 
chains  of  gold  which  have  bound  ministers  and  mem- 
bers and  churches  together;  and,  so  tied,  they  are  still 
working  on  harmoniously  toward  the  glorious  hopes 
of  all  Christendom." 


62  Gospel  Pioneering 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  GREENWICH  STREET  CHURCH  IN  SAN 
FRANCISCO 

Chapter  III.  closed  with  an  account  of  the  be- 
ginning of  the  work  assigned  to  me  and  the  erection 
and  dedication  of  the  house  of  worship  which  came 
to  be  known  as  **  The  Greenwich  Street  Church." 
A  recital  of  the  reminiscences  which  cluster  about  it 
would  perhaps  not  seem  to  be  important  enough  to  be 
given  here,  were  it  not  that  it  exemplifies  one  marked 
phase  of  early  church  history  in  California.  From  this 
one  you  may  learn  the  fortunes  not  of  all  but  of  many 
of  our  undertakings,  in  seeking  to  establish  here  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

I  had,  in  my  simplicity,  and  in  accordance  with  all 
that  I  had  known  respecting  the  organization  of  new 
churches  in  New  England  cities,  supposed  that  when 
the  edifice  was  ready  for  occupancy,  if  not  before 
that,  I  should  learn  of  a  colony,  large  or  small,  going 
with  me  as  a  nucleus;  at  any  rate,  if  I  was  to  be  a 
sort  of  Moses,  I  would  have  an  Aaron  and  a  Hur. 
Accordingly  I  went  to  the  brother  who  doubtless 
suggested  that  this  field  should  be  occupied,  and  whose 
church  would  naturally  count  any  church  that  I  might 
gather,  as  its  first-born  child,  to  ask  who  were  going 
with  me  into  the  new  work.  The  reply  was,  "  I  don't 
know  of  any  one.  You  will  have  to  do  as  the  rest  of 
us  have  done."  This  was  conclusive,  but  it  was  not 
quite  true;  for  he  himself,  whether  sent  for,  as  some 


The  Greenwich  Street  Church  63 

say,  or  coming  of  his  own  accord,  as  I  always  heard, 
certainly  found  a  group  of  men  prepared  to  welcome 
him  and  to  support  him;  and  Mr.  Willey,  coming 
from  Monterey  to  the  Howard  Presbyterian  Church, 
either  found  it  already  organized  or  the  colony  all 
ready  to  be  thus  organized.  I  was  called  to  go  to 
the  work  alone.  Dr.  Benton  went  in  like  manner  to 
Sacramento,  but  with  this  advantage,  that  he  was  first 
on  the  ground,  and  people  desiring  a  church  had  no 
one  to  go  to  but  him.  Still  my  predicament  was  not 
unlike  that  of  most  of  our  pioneers. 

Another  excuse  for  some  dismay  transpired  during 
that  first  week  after  that  really  triumphal  dedication 
service.  I  began  at  once  a  canvass  of  the  field.  If  I 
must  hunt  up  my  material,  I  must  do  it  at  once,  for 
it  w^ould  break  the  spell  badly  and  almost  doom  the 
enterprise  if  for  my  first  regular  service  I  should  have 
no  audience.  So  with  all  speed  I  made  my  way  from 
house  to  house,  only  to  come  to  the  end  of  the  week 
with  the  conviction  that  at  least  four-fifths  of  our 
neighbors  could  not  speak  English,  while  I  could 
speak  nothing  else.  Also  the  very  great  majority  of 
the  residents  in  that  part  of  the  city  were  Romanists. 
I  remember,  however,  that  I  cheered  myself  with  the 
thought  that  Christ  sent  me  there  and  would  certainly 
stand  by  me.  I  remember  also  the  word  of  great 
cheer  that  came  to  me  from  Major  Eaton,  saying,  "  I 
shall  be  there,"  although  I  knew  that  it  probably 
would  be  only  for  that  Sunday.  If  I  remember  cor- 
rectly, sixty  persons  were  present,  and  I  felt  that  the 
first  crisis  had  been  successfully  passed.  A  Sunday 
School  was  organized  immediately  after  the  morning 


64  Gospel  Pioneering 

service,  with  an  equally  encouraging  attendance.  At 
length  a  church  was  organized  with  thirteen  mem- 
bers. They  were  good,  downright,  earnest  people, 
and  at  our  first  communion  season  the  harvest  began 
with  the  reception  of  two  members  on  confession  of 
faith,  and  several  others  I  think  by  letter. 

Of  course  we  were  dependent  on  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society  for  almost  all  the  income, 
and  in  those  days  the  "  cost  of  living,"  with  flour  at 
$10.00  for  a  sack  of  fifty  pounds,  and  other  things 
(except  salmon!)  in  proportion,  and  with  the  rent  of 
five  small  rooms  whose  w^alls  were  of  cotton  cloth  cov- 
ered w^ith  flimsy  wall  paper,  accounted  low  at  $60  per 
month,  a  pastor  had  to  economize  closely  to  live  on 
$200  per  month.  But  there  came  among  us  ver}- 
soon  a  noble  Christian,  a  retired  sea-captain,  who  had 
engaged  in  the  sale  of  bricks,  and  as  a  boom  in  build- 
ing permanent  business  structures  had  now  broken  out 
in  San  Francisco,  he  was  doing  a  large  and  very  prof- 
itable business.  From  the  day  on  which  he  joined  the 
church,  he  put  his  very  life-blood  into  it;  and  when, 
much  less  than  a  year  after  the  enterprise  was  started, 
he  heard  that  we  were  dependent  on  a  missionary  so- 
ciety, he  declared  that  this  must  not  be.  "  I  am  going 
to  take  it  off  from  that  society,"  he  said,  and  he  did 
it  at  an  expense  to  himself  of  $125.00  per  month.  In 
that  same  year  a  parsonage  was  built  on  the  rear  of 
the  church  lot,  to  be  paid  for  in  installments  of  $75.00 
per  month,  and  in  the  next  year  the  leased  lot,  for 
which,  however,  thanks  to  the  third  gentleman  in  my 
board  of  trustees,  Mr.  S.  M.  Bowman,  we  were 
charged  only  the  nominal  sum  of  $1.00  per  annum. 


The  Greenwich  Street  Church  65 

so  as  to  give  the  lease  a  legal  standing,  was  purchased. 
Of  course  in  all  this  we  had  aid  from  friends  in  other 
churches,  but  our  current  expenses  we  met  unaided. 
The  responses  of  our  members  to  appeals  for  service 
were  met  with  a  spirit  which  filled  the  young  pastor's 
heart  with  good  cheer.  We  had  then  a  city  Tract 
Society  which  undertook  to  divide  the  inhabited  por- 
tion of  the  city  into  districts,  asking  each  church  to 
assume  the  care  of  one  district.  There  were  monthly 
meetings  for  reports,  and  Greenwich  Street  Church, 
though  youngest  and  smallest  of  them  all,  seemed  gen- 
erally to  be  second  to  none  in  the  number  of  visits 
made  and  tracts  distributed. 

There  were  thus  for  us  two  happy,  growing,  fruit- 
ful years,  till  one  morning  San  Francisco  was  startled, 
and  for  the  time  almost  benumbed,  by  the  news  that 
the  great  banking  firm  of  Page,  Bacon  &  Co.  had 
closed  its  doors.  It  was  a  stroke  such  as  never  before 
or  since  that  day  any  infant  city  of  (say)  50,000 
people  has  had  to  endure.  This  bank  had  been  ship- 
ping to  New  York  each  fortnight  from  $2,500,000  to 
$3,000,000  w^orth  of  gold  dust,  more  than  twice  as 
much  as  all  other  banks  combined.  It  had  the  un- 
limited confidence  of  the  whole  State.  Every  other 
bank  in  the  city  also  closed  its  doors,  though  three  of 
them  opened  again  in  two  days.  Several  never  opened 
again,  among  these  two  savings  banks  into  which 
many  wage  earners  had  been  pouring  their  savings. 
There  seemed  to  be  a  complete  break-down  of  mutual 
confidence.*      Building  ceased.     A  large   majority  of 

*  Out  of  1,000  busiiness  houses,  300  failed.  There 
were  197  petitions  of  insolvencJ^ — Atherton's  "  Inti- 
Plate  History  of  California,"  p.  171. 


66  Gospel  Pioneering 

wage-earners  must  have  been  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment. And  it  was  among  these  almost  wholly  that 
our  membership  was  found.  Our  good  Deacon  Hig- 
gins  had  made  large  contracts  with  brick-makers  based 
on  the  business  of  the  closing  year,  and  while  these 
contracts  bound  him,  and  the  bricks  w^ere  furnished, 
he  found  for  them  no  sale.  One  after  another  of  our 
members  announced  that  they  were  compelled  to  leave 
the  city.  It  was  on  July  4th,  1855,  at  the  house  of 
one  of  our  deacons  at  which  my  wife  and  I  and  Dea- 
con Higgins  and  his  wife  were  invited  to  dine,  that 
Deacon  Higgins  said,  "  I  must  go  to  sea  again."  The 
other  deacon,  a  carpenter,  responded,  "And  I  must  go 
to  Oroville,"  a  then  new  mining  town  nearly  two  hun- 
dred miles  north  of  us,  where  new  buildings  were 
greatly  in  demand ;  and  a  third  person  not  a  member 
of  the  church  but  a  great  helper  and  one  of  our  trus- 
tees, said,  "  My  business  is  ruined.  I  am  going  back 
to  Lowell." 

I  had  long  realized  that  I  was  not  doing  such 
work  as  I  came  to  California  to  do.  I  saw  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  attendants  on  our  services 
came  past  other  churches  to  get  to  us,  that  almost 
any  young  man  not  favored  as  I  w^as  for  pioneer  work 
could  have  done  what  I  w^as  doing,  and  I  was  sus- 
tained in  occupying  a  place  so  comfortable  and  so 
much  "  like  home  "  only  by  the  fact  that  I  had  heard 
in  the  advice  of  that  committee  the  voice  of  the  Lord. 
It  may  be  that  I  acted  rashly,  without  due  consulta- 
tion with  others  or  due  waiting  on  the  Lord,  but  be- 
fore I  reached  home  that  evening,  my  mind  was  made 


The  Greenwich  Street  Church  67 

up  and  I  presented  my  resignation  to  the  church  on 
the  following  Sabbath,  in  order  to  go  out  somewhere 
on  the  frontier. 

I  recommended  that  the  church  be  dissolved,  Its 
property  sold,  its  little  debt  of  $800  be  paid  and  the 
balance  restored  to  the  A.  H.  M.  S.  But  the  brother 
who  was  then  the  agent  of  that  society  protested.  Ac- 
cording to  statements  made  to  me  by  the  few  who  still 
clung  to  the  hope  that  the  church  could  recover  its 
strength,  this  brother  told  them  that  he  would  see  that 
they  had  pastoral  care,  and  that  if  he  could  not  be 
with  them  himself  he  would  surely  send  a  suitable 
substitute.  They  were  led  to  expect  that  he  would 
himself  be  with  them  quite  regularly.  He  did  preach 
for  them  on  one  Sunday.  The  next  Sunday,  without 
sending  the  substitute  or  giving  them  any  notice  of 
his  own  absence,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  supply 
another  church,  and  the  little  company  came  together 
to  wait  in  vain  and  then  disperse.  Thus  deserted,  the 
church  at  length  died,  and  some  years  after,  I  met  the 
debt  through  a  compromise  settlement,  by  paying  $250 
from  my  own  slender  purse. 

Disappointments  substantially  similar  to  this  have 
occurred  again  and  again  in  the  history  of  our  Con- 
gregational church,  and  equally  in  those  of  other  de- 
nominations. Men  whose  presence  and  influence  led 
to  the  founding  of  these  churches  "went  home"  (the 
term  used  for  a  return  to  the  East),  or  else  caught 
what  was  called  a  "fever"  (the  "  Frazer  river  fe- 
ver "  or  the  "  Washoe  fever "  or  some  other  one 
which  raged  less  fiercely  or  on  a  smaller  domain  and 
thus  failed  to  become  historical),  and  were  off  to  the 


68  Gospel  Pioneering 

new  field,  scarcely  stopping  to  say  good-bye.  Villages 
quite  substantially  built  with  expensive  brick  build- 
ings were  thus  left  quite  desolate,  and  churches  died, 
or  ministers,  discouraged  by  such  desertions  and  the 
uncertainty  of  returns  for  hard  pioneer  service,  left 
for  fairer  fields,  and  their  places  could  not  be  filled. 
At  an  annual  convention  of  Baptist  churches  held  in 
1867,  no  less  than  fifty-five  churches  were  reported  to 
be  extinct.  In  the  same  year  thirteen  Presbyterian 
churches  were  reported  upon  in  the  same  manner, 
among  Congregationalists  only  four.  It  should  be 
remembered  in  connection  with  such  facts  that  those 
who  wrought  here  were  almost  without  exception 
young  men,  sometimes  more  eager  than  wise,  and  that 
for  us  all  the  circumstances  in  which  we  wrought 
were  unprecedented.  Lessons  of  experience  were  yet 
to  be  learned,  and  experience  is  a  pitiless  teacher  whose 
lessons  are  beaten  into  us  by  hard  blows. 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  69 


CHAPTER   VII. 

TEN  YEARS  ON  THE  FRONTIER 

As  SOON  as  ft  became  known  that  I  was  leaving  San 
Francisco  and  desired  to  go  to  the  frontier  and  the 
mines,  I  received  from  my  ship-mate  and  dear  friend, 
Rev.  John  G.  Hale,  of  Grass  Valley,  a  letter  in  which 
he  called  my  attention  to  Downieville,  forty  miles  be- 
yond Nevada  City,  north-easterly.  It  was  the  county 
seat  of  Sierra  County,  which,  though  small  in  area, 
was  then,  perhaps,  the  largest  gold-producing  county 
in  the  State.  It  was  studded  with  mining  camps,  sev- 
eral of  which,  by  virtue  of  their  size  and  amount  of 
business  and  probable  permanency,  deserved  to  be  re- 
garded not  as  camps  but  as  towns.  Downieville  was 
situated  at  the  forks  of  the  North  Fork  of  the  Yuba 
river,  itself  a  branch  of  the  Feather  river,  which  in 
turn  was  a  branch  of  the  Sacramento.  The  bed  of 
this  stream  and  of  its  branches  had  been  exceedingly 
rich  in  gold,  and  so  had  also  been  the  flats  made  by  it, 
as  it  raced  along  In  its  crooked  defile  in  the  deepest 
canyon  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Mr.  Hale  knew  of  one 
or  two  Christian  men  living  there  who,  he  believed, 
would  welcome  me  and  cooperate  with  me.  He  finally 
proffered,  if  I  would  visit  the  place,  to  go  with  me, 
provided  I  would  come  and  do  a  Sunday's  preaching 
for  him.  I  welcomed  the  suggestion,  fulfilled  the  con- 
ditions, and  on  Monday  morning  we  started.  The 
journey  was  by  stage  to  Forest  City,  a  village  of 
Sierra  County,  from  which  Downieville  was,  even  by 


70  Gospel  Pioneering 

the  longest  way,  only  six  miles  further  on,  but  into 
the  depths  of  that  canyon  no  stage  had  ever  yet  come. 
A  rough  road  had  indeed  been  made,  down  which  the 
"  mountain  schooners,"  alias  wagons,  immense  in  size 
and  strength,  could  safely  go,  drawn  by  six  or  eight 
mules,  where  hauling  was  necessary,  held  back  by 
chained  wheels  where  down  the  specially  steep  pitches 
the  only  safe  way  was  to  slide.  These  wagons  re- 
turned empty,  since  the  only  export  from  Downieville 
was  gold  dust,  otherwise  they  could  never  have  been 
drawn  up  over  such  a  road. 

The  rate  of  travel  was  such  that  I  had  plenty  of 
time  to  study  not  only  the  country,  but  what  v/as 
more  to  my  purpose,  the  men  in  it.  I  was  particu- 
larly observant  of  a  Methodist  minister  stationed  at 
Forest  City,  whose  ways  of  approaching  men  and 
talking  with  them,  of  being  at  home  with  them,  di- 
vesting himself  of  the  professional  and  the  ecclesias- 
tical, were  better  for  me  than  many  a  seminary  lecture 
on  the  minister  as  a  man  am.ong  men.  We  went  pur- 
posely incognito,  and  I  never  had  a  chance  to  thank 
him  for  the  lessons  I  received. 

After  spending  the  night  at  Forest  City,  we  con- 
cluded to  foot  it  to  Downieville.  We  might  have 
gone  on  an  express  (mule)  train,  but  the  charges 
were  steep  and  we  verily  thought  that  we  could 
outtravel  the  train.  It  was  a  memorable  walk, 
with  abundant  experience,  which  we  might  have 
escaped  but  rather  coveted,  of  making  a  pathless  tramp 
through  the  chapparal,  the  result  of  which  was  that 
I  entered  the  town,  which  was  to  be  my  home,  with 
pantaloons  so  torn  that  it  was  quite  a  relief  to  find, 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  71 

at  my  very  entrance  on  the  village,  a  clothing  store 
at  which  I  could  provide  for  myself  decent  apparel. 
Mr.  Hale  knew  of  Dr.  George  C.  Chase,  and  I  found 
him,  —  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  a  well- 
trained  physician  and  a  thoroughly  consecrated  Chris- 
tian. His  office  became  my  head-quarters,  and  he  was 
able  to  make  me  acquainted  with  a  few  others  more 
or  less  like-minded.  The  distances  could  not  be  large, 
for  the  little  vale  consisting  of  three  small  flats  formed 
by  flooded  mountain  streams  gave  only  crowded  quar- 
ters for  a  town.  So  I  made  acquaintance  rapidly,  and 
heard  many  encouraging  responses  to  the  suggestion 
that  I  come  to  live  among  them  as  a  preacher.  One 
prominent  man  assured  me  that  I  would  get  along 
all  right  if  I  "  wasn't  too  hard  on  people's  peccadil- 
loes." And  I  thought  that  he  spoke  the  thought  of 
many  others  not  so  frank  as  he.  The  principal  places 
of  business  were  the  gambling  saloons.  Of  course  each 
one  of  these  had  its  shining  bar  and  its  facilities  for 
every  kind  of  deadly  vice.  Prostitution  was  abso- 
lutely shameless,  and  legitimate  business  was  also  evi- 
dently brisk  and  profitable.  There  were  several 
homelike  looking  houses,  though  only  one,  I  believe, 
that  could  boast  of  plastered  w^alls. 

After  getting  well  rested,  Mr.  Hale  commenced  his 
return  to  Grass  Valley,  and  somewhat  stirring  events 
followed.  On  Friday  afternoon,  in  the  largest  and 
finest  gambling  house,  a  professional  gambler  shot  a 
respected  miner,  killing  him  instantly.  The  miner 
was  not  himself  a  gambler,  but  it  w^as  often  necessary 
for  a  man  to  enter  a  gambling  house  in  order  to  find 
the  men  he  wished   to  do  business  with.     The  mur- 


72  Gospel  Pioneering 

derer  was  spirited  away,  and  several  5^ears  elapsed  be- 
fore he  was  arrested.  I  was  invited  to  conduct  the 
funeral,  which  would  be  held  on  Sunday  morning. 
On  Saturday  I  was  invited  to  dine  with  the  leading 
family  in  the  village,  the  husband  and  father  being 
the  expressman  and  banker.  He  was  not  at  home, 
but  his  wife,  his  mother,  his  sister  and  his  confidential 
clerk  made  up  a  pleasant  circle  as  we  sat  at  the  table. 
Suddenly,  however,  in  the  midst  of  the  meal,  every 
one  of  them  rose  excitedly  from  their  seats  and  rushed 
to  the  front  door,  and  I  was  left  alone.  When  they 
returned,  their  apology  was  that  some  criminal  under 
arrest  who  had  said  that  if  he  ever  found  Sam  Lang- 
ton  (the  husband  of  the  family)  on  the  trail,  he 
would  shoot  him,  had  broken  from  the  jail  and  was 
at  large.  Of  course  the  visit  was  a  brief  one,  as  I  did 
not  know  how  to  minister  peace  of  mind  to  strangers 
under  such  anxieties. 

The  next  morning  the  town  was  so  crowded  that 
one  could  hardly  move  in  the  narrow  streets.  I  stood 
on  a  wine  box  at  the  very  street  corner  at  which  the 
saloon  stood  in  which  the  murder  took  place,  and  after 
prayer  and  the  reading  of  Scripture  I  raised  the  ques- 
tion, Who  is  responsible  for  such  a  tragedy  as  this? 
I  spoke  calmly  but  frankly,  and  arraigned  the  dis- 
pensers of  "  fire  water "  and  the  promoters  of  such 
amusements  as  started  hot  blood,  and  finally  said  that, 
speaking  in  ignorance  of  the  conditions  in  this  com- 
munity in  which  I  was  an  utter  stranger,  and  accus- 
ing none,  yet  speaking  what  would  be  pertinent  and 
timely  in  a  certain  community  with  which  I  was  well 
acquainted,  I  would  affirm  that  if  there  was  a  jury- 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  73 

man  who  in  violation  of  his  oath  and  in  contradiction 
of  the  facts,  had  set  a  murderer  free,  he  was  responsi- 
ble; that  if  there  was  a  judge  who  had  so  charged  a 
jury  as  to  bring  about  a  failure  of  justice,  he  was  re- 
sponsible. I  went  on  to  affirm  that  law-abiding 
citizens  were  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  law, 
through  its  prescribed  forms,  by  all  means,  if  possible, 
but  in  any  event  they  were  entitled  to  its  protection. 

This  caused  me  at  the  outset  of  my  work  to  be 
dubbed  "  The  mob-law  minister."  Arrangements  were 
made  for  me  to  preach  in  the  evening  in  an  unfinished 
and  w^eather-beaten  building  designed  for  a  church, 
but  now  used  as  a  hall  for  some  lodges.  It  was  seated 
as  lodge  rooms  generally  are,  with  benches  along 
the  sides  and  a  broad  open  space  in  the  center.  When 
I  reached  the  place  I  was  surprised  to  find  every  seat 
occupied.  On  going  to  the  platform  and  facing  the 
audience,  my  eyes  fell  upon  a  man  sitting  on  the  front 
seat  half  way  towards  the  other  end  of  the  room.  To 
this  day  I  do  not  know  what  there  was  in  the  pale 
face,  or  those  keen  blue  eyes  or  that  almost  colorless 
hair,  to  hold  my  gaze,  but  it  was  held,  and  so  strongly 
that  now  after  more  than  sixty  years  I  see  him  there. 
I  came  afterwards  to  know  that  he  was  the  managing 
partner  in  that  large  gambling  room  in  which  the  mur- 
der was  committed,  and,  I  believe,  the  political  boss 
of  the  county.  And  with  this  information  came  the 
additional  statement  that  he  had  said  that  he  was  go- 
ing to  that  meeting  and  "  If  that  fellow  gets  off  any 
more  of  such  stuff  I  will  shoot  him."  It  was  prob- 
ably to  this  that  I  owed  the  presence  of  the  crowd. 
What  I  might  have  done,  young-blooded  as  I  was,  if 


74  Gospel  Pioneering 

I  had  known  of  the  threat,  I  cannot  tell,  but  as  it  was, 
I  sought  to  turn  to  spiritual  uses  that  which  had  oc- 
curred, by  speaking  from  the  text,  "  What  is  your 
life?" 

The  Mr.  Langton  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  and 
who  owned  most  of  the  "  express  "  mule  trains  cen- 
tering in  Downieville,  gave  me  the  very  great  help 
of  a  free  pass  in  visiting  some  important  mining  towns 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  all  of  which  I 
hoped  to  reach  with  some  healthful  moral  influence 
and  with  the  saving  gospel  of  Christ.  And  I  made 
my  way  back  to  San  Francisco,  attended  the  sessions  of 
the  Association  and  Presbytery,  and  as  soon  as  possible 
afterwards  my  wife  and  I,  with  the  good  motherly 
wife  of  that  one  of  my  deacons  who  was  going  to 
Oroville  but  had  most  kindly  decided  to  go  instead 
with  us  to  Downieville,  started  for  our  new  field  and 
home.  I  look  back  upon  that  journey  with  admira- 
tion for  those  tw^o  ladies.  The  steamer  to  Marys- 
ville  w^as  comfortable,  the  stage  ride  from  there  to 
Camptonville  was  endurable,  the  mule  ride  of  twenty 
miles  from  Camptonville  to  Dov/nieville,  upon  a 
rough,  narrow  trail,  on  which  at  scores  of  points  a 
mule's  misstep  would  mean  a  fatal  fall,  —  made  by 
ladies  neither  of  whom  ever  before  had  sat  on  a  sad- 
dle, and  this  without  a  murmur  either  on  the  way  or 
afterwards,  —  it  meant  for  me  Christian  heroism. 
We  all  three  became  well  used  to  this  in  the  years 
following,  and  the  mule  that  in  most  quarters  has  an 
ill  name  which  he  does  not  deserve,  became  to  us  an 
object  of  sincere  respect,  I  might  almost  add,  of  real 
affection,  so  careful  they  were,  so  sure-footed,  so  in- 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  75 

telligent,  so  brave  to  move  right  on,  no  matter  how 
narrow  the  trail  or  how  steep  the  cliff  above  it  and 
below. 

We  had  sent  on  ahead  our  furniture,  including  a 
piano,  and  our  stores  for  full  four  months,  and  when 
we  reached  the  place  it  had  arrived  and  had  been 
stored  for  us  in  a  little  three-roomed  cottage  on  a 
rather  roomy  flat  made  long  ago  by  a  tremendous 
slide  from  the  steep  and  lofty  bank,  and  already  for 
some  reason  dubbed  by  the  town  as  "  Piety  Flat."  I 
started  out  at  once  to  find  larger  quarters,  but  when 
I  returned,  disgusted  at  my  failure,  I  found  that  my 
two  ladies  had  taken  possession  and  were  already  un- 
packing the  goods.  So  I  submitted  with  what  grace 
I  could  command,  and  we  lived  in  peace  and  comfort, 
two  families  in  three  rooms,  till  I  could  build  my 
home  on  a  portion  of  the  flat  to  w^hich  I  was  able  to 
get  some  sort  of  a  title,  and  my  good  deacon  did  the 
work  and  then  built  for  himself,  next  door. 

We  found  on  this  flat  an  octagonal  structure,  the 
walls  about  eighteen  feet  high,  which  had  just  been 
put  up  and  had  been  dubbed  *'  The  Downieville  Am- 
phitheater." In  this,  it  had  been  advertised  that  there 
would  be  on  the  next  Sunday  afternoon  a  bull  and 
California  lion  fight.  The  proprietor  welcomed  his 
new  neighbors  very  cordially  and  remarked  to  me 
that  he  wished  he  had  known  we  were  coming,  for 
he  would  have  brought  along  another  bull  and  given 
the  church  a  benefit!  On  Sunday  morning  we  re- 
paired to  the  old  hall  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  I 
conducted  my  first  regular  service.  There  was  no 
such  crowd  as  I  saw  on   the  previous  occasion;  the 


76  Gospel  Pioneering 

audience  numbered  twenty-two.  In  the  afternoon  the 
hillside  was  almost  black  with  men  sitting  and  wait- 
ing to  see  the  fight.  I  don't  know  how  many  paid 
their  way  in,  but  I  was  credibly  informed  that  the 
man  could  not  contrive  to  make  either  the  lion  or  the 
bull  come  out  of  the  corners  to  which  they  had  slunk 
away,  as  distant  as  possible  each  from  the  other. 

Meanwhile  a  group  of  Christian  men  had  come  to 
see  us  and  to  bid  us  welcome.  The  piano  had  been 
set  up  and  was  found  to  be  in  perfect  tune,  notwith- 
standing its  long,  rough  ride.  We  had  books  enough 
for  all  our  callers,  and  we  sang  together  the  dear  old 
familiar  hymns,  till  our  little  house  was  surrounded 
by  men  listening,  possibly  some  of  them  with  mois- 
tened eyes.  I  preached  also  in  the  evening,  but  to  a 
still  smaller  congregation.  On  the  next  Sunday  we 
moved  to  quarters  more  snug  and  cozy,  the  office  of 
the  justice  of  the  peace,  who  was  a  Methodist  church 
member  and  willing  so  far  to  help  us,  though  a  little 
anxious  about  its  bearing  on  his  ov/n  popularity.  After 
awhile  we  were  able  to  rent  a  comfortable  little  hall, 
at  which  we  were  content  to  stay  till  we  could  build 
a  church.  It  was  a  day  of  small  things,  to  human 
view,  and  no  skill  of  mine  could  make  it  otherwise. 
I  widened  the  work  somewhat  by  holding  services  at 
outstations,  always  preaching  three  times  on  Sunday. 
A  church  was  organized  within  a  few  months  after 
my  arrival,  small  in  numbers  but  spiritually  rich  in 
its  material.  While  it  had  scarcely  thirty  members, 
it  undertook  the  erection  of  a  comely  edifice  which 
would  cost  about  $4,000.  My  part  in  this  under- 
taking was,  as  usual  in  pioneer  fields,  to  provide  the 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  77 

funds.  The  cost  would  be  much  greater  than  our 
members  could  supply,  though  there  was  not  one 
stingy  spirit  among  them.  Citizens  were  solicited, 
but  the  great  majority  had  no  interest  in  religion  and 
very  little  in  a  town  in  which  they  were  tarrying  for 
the  little  time  which  they  imagined  would  be  neces- 
sary to  "make  their  pile,"  so  as  to  start  for  home! 
But  the  whole  region  was  canvassed.  Down  into 
deep  mines  I  went  when  the  "  boss"  was  kindly 
enough  disposed  to  allow  me  and  to  be  my  guide. 
And  I  really  made  friends  with  men  whom  I  had 
never  seen  before,  through  my  gratitude  for  a  sub- 
scription of  two  dollars  more  or  less,  which  they  would 
authorize  the  boss  to  pay  and  charge  to  them. 

At  length  the  building  was  erected  as  to  its  exter- 
ior, and  a  beauty  it  was.  We  proposed  to  occupy  it, 
in  spite  of  its  unfinished  interior,  and  take  a  rest  for 
awhile.  Every  bill  was  paid  as  it  fell  due,  which  to 
our  town's  people  was  a  great  surprise  and  won  us 
their  good  will.  The  day  came  on  which  I  could 
give  notice  that  the  next  Sunday's  services  would  be 
in  the  new  church.  But  on  Friday  the  whole  busi- 
ness part  of  the  town  was  burned,  and  the  last  build- 
ing to  fall  was  our  church.  My  own  home  escaped. 
How  vividly  I  remember  the  service  held  there  for 
prayer  and  conference  as  to  whether  we  would  aban- 
don the  undertaking  or  would  try  again.  Members, 
in  their  own  loss  and  poverty,  pledged  generously. 
Even  while  the  flames  were  consuming  the  building, 
one  Christian  miner  had  reached  my  home  from  his 
camp  on  the  mountains  four  miles  away,  with  the 
words  leaping  from  his  lips,  "A  hundred  dollars,  Mr. 


78  Gospel  Pioneering 

Pond,  for  another  church."  The  resolve  was  to  try 
it  again,  and  as  soon  as  I  could  get  away  I  commenced 
a  canvass  among  our  churches,  going  as  far  as  San 
Francisco  for  aid.  The  Congregational  Union  had 
then  begun  its  beneficent  work,  now  carried  on  under 
the  name  of  the  Church  Building  Society,  and  it  came 
to  our  help  with  a  pledge  of  $500.  Again  the  miners 
and  friends,  business  men  in  villages  in  the  vicinity 
at  which  I  was  maintaining  outstations,  were  called 
upon,  and  the  response  was  more  hearty  because  of 
sympathy  with  us  in  our  loss.  But  we  did  not  aim 
this  time  at  a  fair  exterior.  We  could  build  of  bricks 
and  stone  a  basement  structure,  make  it  cozy  and  com- 
fortable within,  and  wait  for  awhile  to  erect  upon  it, 
of  the  same  materials,  such  a  meeting-house  as  would 
befit  the  place.  It  was  a  great  day  when  we  dedicated 
this  chapel.  A  sufficient  amount  was  subscribed  at 
the  dedication  and  speedily  collected,  to  enable  us  to 
draw  our  $500  from  the  Union  and  to  be  free  of  debt 
except  $500,  which,  not  then  due,  remained  of  ex- 
pense incurred  in  the  erection  of  the  burned  edifice 
and  for  which  the  notes  of  the  church  had  been  ac- 
cepted by  our  several  creditors,  payable  in  five  years 
without  interest.  These  notes  were  all  paid  when 
due,  though  most  of  our  creditors  had  scattered  widely, 
and  I  do  not  remember  that  a  single  one  of  them 
pressed  us  to  pay.  Quite  a  gathering  of  ministers 
came  to  help  us  dedicate  the  building,  among  them 
Rev.  E.  S.  Lacy,  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
in  San  Francisco.  One  of  them  in  reporting  the 
service  spoke  of  the  building  as  being  "  like  the 
religion    that    would    be    taught    there,    very    lowly 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  79 

but  substantial  without,  very  cozy  and  comforting 
within." 

One  who  has  never  passed  through  a  similar  ex- 
perience can  hardly  know  the  sense  of  relief,  or  the 
joy,  with  which  I  commenced  a  real  pastoral  work 
again  at  home  with  my  flock  in  our  cozy  fold ;  also, 
at  home  once  more  in  my  study,  with  my  books  which 
for  so  long  had  almost  seemed  to  eye  me  reproachfully 
for  my  neglect  of  them ;  conscious  also  that  the  hard 
experience  had  won  for  me  a  place  not  only  in  Dow- 
nieville  but  in  the  whole  county,  which  would,  I 
hoped,  enable  me  to  have  a  hearing  wherever  in  it  I 
might  go  to  spend  a  night,  whether  on  Sunday  or  on 
a  week-day. 

This  hope  was  fulfilled.  Sometimes  in  unoccupied 
theatres,  sometimes  in  the  dining-rooms  of  the  hotels 
or  of  miners'  boarding  houses,  sometimes  in  miners' 
cabins,  I  carried  the  message.  Once  in  a  great  while 
the  audience  would  approach  one  hundred.  Once  it 
numbered  only  seven.  But  that  service  was  a  re- 
markable one,  for  as  a  result  of  it,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, my  church  in  Downieville  received  more  mem- 
bers on  confession  of  faith  than,  so  far  as  I  know, 
were  ever  added  to  any  church  in  all  my  pastoral 
work  as  the  result  of  a  single  service.  It  was  more 
than  twice  as  many  as  were  present  that  day. 

There  is  a  passage  in  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  which 
for  more  than  half  a  century  has  touched  a  tender 
chord  of  sympathy  in  my  heart :  '*  The  word  of  Je- 
hovah came  unto  me  saying,  *  Son  of  man,  behold  I 
take  away  from  thee  the  desire  of  thine  eyes  with  a 
stroke.'  ...  So  I  spake  unto  the  people  in  the  morn- 


8o  Gospel  Pioneering 

ing,  and  at  even  my  wife  died"  (Ezek.  24:15-18). 
On  June  3rd,  i860,  nearly  five  years  after  we  entered 
Downieville,  a  similar  word  of  Jehovah-Jesus  came  to 
me.  In  scarcely  twenty-four  hours  after  we  began  to 
think  my  wife's  case  dangerous,  she  left  the  frame  in 
which  she  had  lived  during  twenty-eight  years  and 
had  well  served  from  early  childhood  to  that  day  the 
Lord  her  Saviour.  She  left  it  to  be  clothed  upon 
with  her  new  body,  celestial  and  eternal.  In  our 
company  on  the  Trade  Wind  she  was  the  first  to  be 
taken  and  the  youngest  of  us  all.  It  would  be  aside 
from  the  purpose  with  which  these  Reminiscences  are 
written,  to  give  a  biography  of  her  or  even  to  picture 
her  in  the  rare  beauty  of  her  person  or  the  far 
rarer  beauty  of  her  character.  But  it  will  help  to 
show  some  of  the  finer  qualities  of  mining  communi- 
ties and  of  many  of  the  miners  themselves  in  those 
days  if  I  venture  to  speak  of  the  way  in  which  the 
news  of  her  departure  was  received.  She  had  been  my 
very  efficient  help-meet  in  my  work  as  a  pastor,  but 
with  a  modesty  and  quietude  and  an  absence  of  any 
apparent  prominence,  such  that  I  had  no  conception  of 
the  place  she  had  unconsciously  gained  in  the  hearts 
of  all  sorts  of  people.  The  crowded  audience  at  her 
funeral  was  made  up  not  only  of  our  own  town's  peo- 
ple but  of  miners  who  had  tramped  from  villages  four 
or  five  miles  away,  on  trails  rough  and  steep.  The 
town  bell  was  tolled  on  this  occasion  for  the  first  time. 
All  places  of  business  were  closed,  not  even  excepting 
the  saloons.  The  hush  along  the  narrow  streets  was 
significant  of  a  general  sense  of  sorrow  and  of  loss. 
There  was  then  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Nevada 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  8i 

a  company  of  volunteer  soldiers  enlisted  in  Downie- 
ville  in  view  of  an  impending  Indian  war.  On  their 
return,  the  captain  told  me  that  the  news  of  her  death 
"  threw  a  pall  on  the  whole  camp."  It  was  a  lesson 
which  has  helped  me  ever  since  in  measuring  the 
power  of  "  unconscious  influence." 

It  was  good  for  me  to  be  thus  afl^icted,  great  though 
my  loss  and  sorrow  was.  No  other  fact  in  my  whole 
life,  except  my  conversion,  had  so  much  to  do  with  the 
making  of  my  character  or  with  the  spirit  and  the 
manner  of  my  ministry.  My  heart  lingers  still  about 
that  "  stroke  "  so  heavy  from  my  Father's  hand.  I 
remember  the  heart  searchings  which  led  to  an  abso- 
lute reversal  in  some  respects  in  the  current  of  my 
life,  so  that  if  I  am  able  to  extend  sympathy  to  others, 
if  I  have  learned  in  any  good  measure  to  look  through 
others'  eyes,  if  I  have  made  a  personal,  living,  present 
Christ  the  center,  the  very  core  of  my  preaching  and 
have  brought  that  Best  of  Friends  into  closer  rela- 
tions with  other  hearts,  I  owe  it  in  great  measure  to 
her  who  "  being  dead  yet  speaketh." 

She  was  thoughtful  of  me  and  the  little  ones  whom 
God  had  given  us,  leaving  us  a  legacy  whose  value 
cannot  be  expressed  in  gold.  Her  younger  sister  had 
married  a  brother  in  the  ministry,  the  youngest  mem- 
ber of  our  class  both  in  college  and  in  the  Seminary. 
I  was  next  to  him  with  only  three  months  between 
us.  He  had  become  as  dear  to  me  as  any  brother 
could  be.  Six  months  before  my  wife's  death  he  had 
been  welcomed  to  the  place  prepared  for  him  in 
Heaven.     Six  weeks  before  that  their  only  child  had 


82  Gospel  Pioneering 

preceded  him,  so  that  our  sister  was  left  in  unspeak- 
able loneliness. 

A  few  moments  before  my  wife  was  taken,  she  said 
to  me,  with  a  sweetness  in  her  tone  that  even  to  this 
day  seems  to  have  in  it  an  echo  from  the  open  gate  of 
Heaven:  **  If  you  think  well  of  it,  I  would  like  to 
have  Helen  come  out  to  care  for  our  children."  I 
replied  that  I  would  "  do  my  utmost  to  bring  it  to 
pass."  Thus  she  provided  the  best  of  mothers  for  the 
children  and  a  help-meet  of  immeasurable  value  who 
continued  with  me  for  fifty-two  years. 

Although  through  the  arrival  of  families  the  pop- 
ulation of  our  village  increased  for  about  two  or  three 
years  after  my  own  arrival,  I  noticed  with  some  dis- 
may that  the  number  of  votes  thrown  at  elections  de- 
creased steadily,  and  mines  which  w^ere  accounted  by 
experts  to  be  good  for  fifty  years  were  found  to  be 
exhausted  in  five  years.  But  my  hope  concerning  it 
held  out.  I  remember  when  others'  hearts  were  fail- 
ing them  that  I  preached  a  Thanksgiving  sermon  on 
"  The  duty  of  Downieville  to  prosper."  Our  church 
was  crowded  to  hear  it,  but  even  those  who  were 
pleased  by  my  enthusiasm  almost  laughed  at  my  proofs. 
Our  little  church  grew  both  in  attendance  on  its  serv- 
ices and  in  membership.     It  became  self-sustaining. 

Although,  up  to  the  time  when  South  Carolina 
fired  on  Fort  Sumter,  our  county,  and  especially  our 
town,  had  been  almost  as  intensely  pro-slaver)^  as  if  it 
lay  south  of  Mason's  and  Dixon's  line,  and  I  had 
been  honored  by  another  soubriquet,  *'  the  Abolition 
Preacher,"  yet  I  was  nominated  as  County  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Schools  and  was  elected,  and  after- 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  83 

wards  twice  reelected,  and  thus  the  whole  county  be- 
came still  more  thoroughly  my  parish  and  I  seemed 
thus  to  have  a  man's  full  measure  both  of  opportunity 
and  of  work  upon  my  hands.  But  not  only  the  town 
but  the  whole  county  was  declining,  its  mineral  re- 
sources decreasing,  with  no  others  to  fall  back  upon. 
At  length  the  members  of  the  church  were  compelled 
to  scatter,  and  at  the  end  of  ten  years  of  service  I  re- 
signed. The  few  who  remained  vv^ere  wise  enough  to 
have  the  church  properly  dissolved,  its  property  sold, 
the  Building  Society  reimbursed  for  its  gift  of  $500 
in  the  sum  of  $623.63,  and  $150  went  to  the  Ameri- 
can Home  Missionary  Society. 

And  so  in  the  shifting  conditions  of  early  California 
life  I  saw  nearly  thirteen  years  of  hard  work  resulting, 
unbelief  would  say,  in  two  total  failures.  But  let  us 
see.  That  little  mountain  church  disbanded,  sent  its 
life  currents  into  other  churches  and  has  in  these  been 
made  immortal.  Its  scattered  members  carried  gospel 
blessings  wherever  they  went.  I  think  easily  and  with 
no  attempt  to  remember  all,  how  one  household  fur- 
nished two  pillars  for  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Vir- 
ginia City;  how  one  other  laid  the  foundation  of  our 
church  (since  deceased)  in  South  Vallejo;  how  another 
fostered  and  doubtless,  under  God,  preserved  the  infant 
life  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Los  An- 
geles; how,  not  counting  the  pastor  and  his  wife, 
representatives  of  that  little  church  were  among  the 
founders  of  Bethany  Church  in  San  Francisco;  how, 
bringing  forth  fruit  in  old  age,  another  pair  are  known 
as  the  father  and  mother  of  Grace  Church  at  Fitch- 
burg;    how    one   of    my    Downieville   boys,  converted 


84  Gospel  Pioneering 

there,  became  a  chief  founder  of  our  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Alameda,  and  how  another  was  for 
almost  a  third  of  a  century  a  chief  pillar  in  our  First 
Church  in  Oakland  and  a  legal  counsellor,  giving 
gratuitous  service  to  almost  every  Congregational 
church  in  Northern  California  that  needed  service  of 
that  sort,  and  to  our  Theological  Seminary,  of  which 
he  was  the  treasurer  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. I  am  quite  sure  that  I  have  not  told  all  that 
might  be  told  along  that  line.  But  I  have  told  enough 
to  illustrate  my  idea.  And  what  has  come  of  the  fail- 
ures of  other  pioneers  would  furnish,  not  perhaps  in 
like  abundance  but  each  according  to  its  measure,  sim- 
ilar indications  that  their  churches  did  not  live,  and 
did  not  even  die,  in  vain. 

I  cannot  leave  that  mountain  town  and  frontier 
service  without  one  or  two  other  reminiscences  show- 
ing what  sort  of  people  were  found  there.  Our  quite 
roomy  house  was  home  for  many  outside  our  own 
circle.  They  came  and  went;  they  sat  down  at  our 
table  with  utmost  freedom;  they  lodged  with  us  often 
up  to  the  utmost  capacity  of  our  accommodations,  but 
no  one  of  them  ever  allowed  himself  to  be  a  burden 
upon  us  either  in  household  care  or  in  expense.  I  re- 
call one  exception,  but  he  was  not  a  miner  and  not  a 
resident  of  Downieville,  but  a  Yankee  from  my  own 
home  town  in  New  England.  Whenever  they  had 
been  with  us  even  for  a  day  or  two,  something  was 
left  in  Mrs.  Pond's  hands  or  hidden  where  she  would 
be  sure  to  find  it,  —  while,  accustomed  as  they  were 
to  cook  for  themselves  in  their  cabins,  they  would  give 
a  lift  on    the   housework   that  made   things   go   more 


Ten  Years  on  the  Frontier  85 

easily  than  when  we  were  alone.  There  was  so  much 
of  this,  and  it  was  done  with  such  delicacy  and  with- 
out affectation,  that  Mrs.  Pond  had  her  first  siege  of 
home-sickness  when  we  were  newly  settled  in  the 
pleasant  city  of  Petaluma,  and  it  was  so  severe  that 
I  promised  her  that  if  she  continued  to  desire  it,  she 
should  visit  the  old  home  again  as  soon  as  the  melting 
snow  would  render  the  journey  possible  for  her.  But 
before  that  time  came,  Petaluma  had  become  home- 
like and  the  journey  never  was  taken. 

A  marked  and  kind  Providence  enabled  me  to  sell 
the  house  which  I  had  built  in  Downieville  for  enough 
to  pay  what  I  still  owed  upon  it.  And  the  sale  of 
furniture,  including  our  piano,  enabled  us  to  meet 
the  travelling  expenses  of  the  family  to  San  Francisco 
and  to  provide  for  us  for  a  little  while.  But  it  was 
not  the  custom  nor  the  disposition  of  our  Christian 
people  or  our  fellow  citizens  to  let  us  go  so  nearly 
empty-handed.  The  evening  before  our  house  was  to 
be  dismantled,  an  unexpected  crowd  appeared  at  our 
front  door.  It  took  possession  of  the  premises  up- 
stairs and  down.  It  provided  both  program  and  re- 
freshment. It  had  divided  itself  into  two  classes,  one 
being  the  church-members,  the  other,  friends  outside 
the  church.  There  were  two  charades  in  the  program, 
the  first  now  forgotten  by  me  but  prepared  by  the  sec- 
ond class,  resulted  in  placing  in  the  hands  of  Mrs. 
Pond  a  purse  heavy  with  $250  in  gold.  The  second, 
presented  by  the  first  class,  came  in  with  a  package 
wrapped  in  a  greenback  tied  tightly.  It  was  said  to 
stand  for  one  word  of  five  syllables.  No  one  was  able 
to  guess  the  w^ord,  which  at  length  was  made  known 


86  Gospel  Pioneering 

to  us  as  in-a-bill-I-tle  (inability),  —  a  modest  and 
witty  explanation  of  the  fact  that  their  gift  to  me 
could  not  equal  the  one  given  to  Mrs.  Pond.  But  it 
was  $150,  and  the  two  gifts  enabled  us  to  provide 
plainly  but  comfortably  the  furniture  for  the  rented 
quarters  into  w^hich  we  entered  at  Petaluma. 


Perils  by  the  Way  87 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PERILS  BY  THE  WAY 

It  is  written  (Ps.  33:17)  that  *' a  horse  is  a  vain 
thing  for  safety  " ;  and  we  in  Sierra  County,  where 
for  several  years  all  of  our  traveling,  and  for  the  en- 
tire ten  years  of  my  residence  there,  almost  all  of  it, 
was  either  on  foot  or  in  the  saddle,  were  wont  to  en- 
dorse the  saying.  Not  so  with  the  mule.  We  had 
the  best  of  saddle  mules  and  were  proud  of  them.  We 
extolled  the  safety  of  the  mule ;  occasionally  boasted 
of  their  speed.  We  had  one  in  Downieville  with  the 
reputation  of  "  a  mile  in  three  minutes."  But  the 
main  virtues  were  that  he  was  cautious,  sure-footed, 
picking  his  way  skillfully  over  the  rough  places,  never 
unbalanced,  no  matter  how  narrow  the  path  or  how 
steep  the  cliff  above  or  the  precipice  below.  Further- 
more, in  making  steep  ascents,  he  moves  without  ap- 
parent effort,  whereas  a  horse  gives  a  jerk  with  every 
upward  step.  The  mule's  disposition  has  been  slan- 
dered as  obstinate  and  sometimes  malignant.  After 
ten  years  of  companionship  with  him,  I  testify  to  his 
general  amiability  as  well  as  reliability. 

There  were  two  exceptions  to  his  good  behavior, 
which  I  cite  as  illustrating  the  possibility  of  tragedies 
in  such  Gospel  pioneering  as  I  was  called  to  under- 
take. I  had  two  outstations,  one  at  Goodyear's  Bar, 
supposed  to  be  four  miles  from  Downieville  down  the 
river.  The  other  was  at  Monte  Cristo,  a  famous 
mining  camp,   four  miles  up  the  steep   ascent  of  the 


88  Gospel  Pioneering 

northern  bank  of  our  great  canyon.  My  services 
were  held  on  alternate  Sunday  afternoons. 

On  one  Sunday  I  was  unfortunate  in  the  animal  I 
rode:  he  was  big,  heavy,  ungainly,  and  I  think  ill- 
natured.  On  my  return  ride,  descending  a  little 
especially  steep  pitch,  he  threw  himself  down  flat,  and 
in  recovering  his  upright  position  he  left  me  on  the 
ground  with  my  left  foot  caught  in  the  stirrup  and 
with  the  large  Mexican  spur  inserted  in  the  surcingle. 
If  I  could  have  had  one  instant  before  he  moved 
I  could  have  released  myself,  but  in  moving  he 
dragged  me,  and  the  simple  movement  by  which  re- 
lease was  to  be  had,  became  impossible.  Thus  I  W3S 
dragged  along  in  the  narrow  trail  v/ith  my  head 
within  two  inches  of  his  right  hind  hoof.  If  that 
hoof  had  descended  upon  my  head,  the  blow  could  not 
have  been  otherwise  than  fatal.  My  chance  for  safety 
lay  in  one  characteristic,  of  which  all  along  I  had  had 
clear  evidence:  he  was  willing  to  stop.  I  was  enabled 
to  keep  calm  and  to  speak  to  him  soothingly,  and  at 
length  he  stopped.  One  instant  and  a  movement  of 
myself  forward  one  inch  released  my  foot,  and  I  was 
safe  and  uninjured.  This  could  not  be  said  of  my 
torn  and  dirty  clothes;  and  that  I  might  be  decent  on 
the  platform  at  the  evening  service,  I  did  the  only 
Sunday  trading  in  my  whole  career. 

The  other  adventure  was  in  connection  with  a 
meeting  of  what  we  called  our  mountain  association. 
The  number  of  churches  and  ministers  in  the  asso- 
ciation was  very  small ;  and  though  it  would  call, 
coming  and  going,  for  a  mule-back  ride  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  miles,   I  determined  to  be  there.     The 


Perils  by  the  Way  89 

place  was  Oroville,  then  a  young  mining  village; 
but  having  been  chosen  as  the  county  seat  of  Butte 
County,  it  was  a  point  of  present  and  prospective  im- 
portance. The  development  of  fine  agricultural  re- 
sources in  that  country  has  saved  it  from  the  fate  of 
our  mining  towns.  Rich  in  golden  oranges  and  pur- 
ple olives  and  every  sort  of  fruit  that  can  grow  any- 
where, it  has  had  a  healthy  growth,  without  ever 
having  a  "  boom." 

It  was  arranged  that  I  should  take  an  early  start, 
and  after  a  ride  of  twenty  miles  be  joined  at  Camp- 
tonville  by  my  well-beloved  brother  in  the  ministry, 
Rev.  B.  N.  Seymour,  who,  by  the  way,  was  the  foun- 
der of  our  church  in  Oroville. 

It  was  a  delightful  meeting.  Each  one  of  us  pas- 
tors was  too  far  from  any  other  to  admit  of  much 
fellowship,  and  we  were  hungry  for  it.  It  was  the 
first  meeting  of  the  sort  ever  held  in  Oroville,  and 
this  added  to  the  interest  of  it.  My  own  recollec- 
tions of  it  are  vivid  and  delightful. 

Starting  for  our  return  on  Friday,  we  had  arranged 
to  spend  the  evening  and  hold  a  service  at  Forbes- 
town,  a  mining  village  about  midway  of  my  journey 
home.  We  reached  Camptonville,  the  field  of  Brother 
Seymour's  labors,  in  good  season,  and  while  we  rested 
it  began  to  snow.  Brother  Seymour  and  his  good  wife 
entreated  me  not  to  go  farther;  but  when  I  thought 
of  my  three  Sunday  services  unprovided  for,  and  with 
no  possibility  of  sending  any  word  ahead  by  telegraph 
or  otherwise,  I  persisted  that  I  must  go  on.  I  made 
what  speed  I  could  as  long  as  the  trail  continued  to 
be  visible,   but   the   fall   of   snow  was   heavy,    and   at 


90  Gospel  Pioneering 

length  a  wind  arose  and  drifted  it.  Progress  became 
very  slow  and  daylight  was  becoming  dim.  I  was 
somewhat  familiar  with  the  slope  of  the  ridge,  and  I 
had  at  length  to  give  up  all  hope  of  reaching  Downie- 
ville.  But  there  was  a  rude  hostelr}^  halfway  between 
Camptonville  and  Downieville,  which  I  knew  —  or 
thought  I  knew — could  not  be  far  away. 

But  the  storm  became  more  severe,  and  my  mule, 
descrying  a  little  cluster  of  evergreen  trees,  went 
for  it,  and  finding  himself  comparatively  comfortable 
there,  declined  to  go  farther.  I  dismounted  and  trod 
down  the  snow  for  a  short  space  in  advance,  and  en- 
deavored thus  to  bring  him  along;  till  I  said  to  my- 
self that  I  must  not  exhaust  myself  in  this  way,  but 
must  leave  the  mule  and  save  myself.  The  snow^  was 
up  to  my  arm-pits.  My  only  way  of  advancing  was 
by  throwing  my  weight  upon  the  snow  in  front  of  me, 
thus  lowering  it  so  that  I  could  step  over  it.  I  perse- 
vered in  this,  guided  only  by  my  recollection  of  the 
contour  of  the  ridge,  and  at  length  the  light  in  the 
window  of  the  Mountain  House  was  visible.  I  took 
courage  and  made  for  it,  reaching  it  just  ready  in  my 
fatigue,  to  fall  on  the  floor.  The  people  knew  me 
well  and  received  me  most  kindly.  Tw^o  men,  taking 
a  mule  from  their  own  stable,  retraced  my  steps  and 
found  my  mule  and  brought  him  in. 

There  I  remained  over  Sunday  and  went  on  to  my 
home  on  Monday  in  company  with  a  mule-train, 
which  got  as  far  as  the  Mountain  House  on  Monday 
morning.  Tw^o  men  traveling  on  foot  on  the  ridge 
parallel  to  that  on  w^hich  I  traveled  perished  in  the 
snow\ 


Three  Years  at  Petaluma  91 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THREE  YEARS  AT  PETALUMA— 1865-1868 

Have  I  any  right  to  bring  my  reminiscences  of 
these  years  into  what  purports  to  cover  only  the  Early 
Days  of  Congregationalism?  I  doubted  this  at  first, 
but  when  on  recurring  to  the  records  I  find  that  the 
close  of  1865  showed  us  to  have  in  all  of  California 
only  29  churches  with  an  aggregate  membership  of 
1 23 1,  while  the  close  of  1920  shows  246  churches  and 
an  aggregate  membership  of  34780,  I  feel  safe  in  ac- 
counting those  three  years  as  belonging  to  the  child- 
hood if  not  to  the  infancy  of  our  Fellowship.  And  it 
may  be  that  these  reminiscences  of  my  brief  pastorate 
in  that  delightful  rural  city  will  present  an  aspect  of 
our  work  so  different  from  those  connected  with  pas- 
torates in  the  metropolis  and  afterw^ard  on  the  fron- 
tier and  in  the  mines,  as  to  be  really  necessary  to 
complete  the  picture  I  am  trying  to  portray. 

I  came  from  my  mountain  home  to  San  Francisco 
under  agreement  to  serve  as  a  temporary  supply  for 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  San  Francisco,  till 
it  should  secure  a  settled  pastor.  But  before  I  had 
spent  even  one  Sabbath  with  that  people,  I  felt  it  my 
duty  to  ask  release  from  my  engagement,  that  I  might 
enter  upon  service  at  Petaluma,  where,  as  I  was  told, 
such  service  as  I  could  give,  was  greatly  needed.  The 
General  Association  had  held  its  session  in  San  Fran- 
cisco during  that  week  of  my  arrival,  and  when  this 
was  ended  I  went  first  by  a  little  steamer  up  the  little 


92  Gospel  Pioneering 

crooked  inlet  of  the  Bay  to  within  two  miles  of  the 
city.  There  I  boarded  a  train  made  up  of  one  or  at 
most  two  cars  such  as  were  in  use  on  street  railroads. 
These  were  drawn  by  a  dummy  engine,  upon  a  track 
made  of  three-by-four  scantlings  covered  by  strap  iron. 
I  was  not  greatly  impressed  by  all  this  as  a  foretoken 
of  a  thriving,  up-to-date  community.  It  was  possibly 
fortunate  for  me  that  nobody  met  me  at  the  depot, 
lest  some  such  lucubrations,  safe  enough  to  express 
now,  might  have  escaped  my  lips  prematurely.  I 
availed  myself  of  the  only  bus  to  go  to  the  American 
Hotel,  and  having  daylight  before  me  I  set  out  to  see 
the  town,  but  especially  the  church  buildings.  The 
first  one  that  I  visited  was  handsomely  located  on  the 
top  of  a  small  hillock,  high  enough  to  give  a  view  in 
all  directions,  high  enough  also,  I  thought,  to  hinder 
attendance  on  the  services.  The  last  one  that  I  came 
to  was  finely  located  on  a  large  corner  lot;  plenty  of 
room,  I  said,  for  expansion,  but  my  hope  that  I  should 
not  find  this  the  Congregational  church  was  silently 
but  quite  forcibly  expressed.  It  was  painted,  but 
the  paint  was  faded  and  falling;  the  steps  were  ragged; 
the  cupola,  in  which  I  saw  a  church  bell,  had  its  slats 
loosened  and  awry.  It  looked  friendless  enough  to 
call  forth  my  sympath^^ 

Returning  to  the  hotel,  I  enquired  about  the 
churches,  and  found  that  this  was  the  building  in 
which  I  was  to  preach.  I  had  already  committed 
myself  for  three  months  and  retreat  was  mpossible. 
And  I  do  not  remember  that  I  wished  to  retreat. 
It  seemed  clear  to  me  that  I  was  following  my 
Leader  and    that   He   would   see   me   safely   through. 


Three  Years   at   Petaluma  93 

I  had  been  made  aware  that  the  church  and  congre- 
gation had  been  thrown  into  two  hostile  camps, 
through  conduct  ill-advised,  to  put  it  mildly,  of  my 
predecessor.  Some  families  had  already  withdrawn, 
and  others  might  go.  As  I  moved  about  I  scarcely 
heard  one  member  speaking  kindly  of  another.  The 
Sunday  School  was  small,  but  even  at  that,  it  was 
suffering  for  lack  of  sufficient  teachers.  I  scarcely 
wonder  that  my  wife  became  homesick  for  the  moun- 
tains and  the  mines.  On  about  my  third  or  fourth 
Sunday  I  ventured  to  preach  on  Evil-speaking,  and 
was  evidently  entertaining  my  hearers,  but  failing  of 
my  purpose.  Suddenly  I  closed  my  manuscript  and 
the  Bible  and  spoke  as  I  had  no  intention  of  speak- 
ing,—  with  a  bluntness,  a  ^^  thou-art-the-man"  di- 
rectness which  prevented  the  possibility  of  any  one 
applying  the  sermon  to  another  than  himself.  I  be- 
lieve that  I  was  inspired  to  say  those  words  —  that  I 
might  almost  have  used  respecting  them  the  "  Thus- 
saith-the-Lord  "  of  the  prophets  of  old.  And  He  who 
inspired  the  utterance  gave  to  it,  perhaps,  a  certain 
tone  of  love;  and  at  any  rate  saw  to  it  that  it  was 
well  received.  Those  who  had  erred  most  sorely,  con- 
fessed most  humbly,  and  the  tide  that  was  sweeping 
the  church  to  its  ruin  was  turned. 

I  took  one  comfort  to  myself  from  the  beginning; 
it  was  this,  that  whatever  might  be  my  perplexities 
in  other  directions,  I  need  not  be  troubled  about  the 
finances.  Laymen  were  caring  for  this,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  first  month  and  the  second,  my  salary 
was  paid  in  full,  and  with  a  reassuring  comfort  to 
me.     But  about  that  time  one  of  my  deacons  said  to 


94  Gospel  Pioneering 

me,  "  I  am  afraid  that  we  are  running  behind."  But 
I  listened  with  a  stolid  air,  as  though  that  was  no  part 
of  my  concern.  But  when  the  other  deacon,  on  the 
next  day,  made  a  like  remark  and  added  that  he  would 
be  glad  to  know  that  the  deficit  did  not  exceed  $iooo, 
I  became  too  much  startled  not  to  act.  The  business 
of  the  church  was  being  so  conducted  that  even  the 
deacons  did  not  know  its  condition,  but  were  ''  afraid." 
Upon  inquiry  it  transpired  that  the  church  treasurer, 
who  was  also  a  banker  in  a  sm.all  way,  had  been  ad- 
vancing the  money  for  all  expenses,  and  was  charging 
the  church  one  per  cent  a  month  for  these  advances, 
and  that  the  deficit  amounted  to  $1800,  and  this  for 
a  church  of  less  than  fifty  resident  members,  and  all 
for  what  is  significantly,  if  not  elegantly,  called  "  dead 
horse."  When  this  became  known,  of  course  there 
was  righteous  indignation  a  plenty,  and  perhaps  some 
that  was  not  quite  righteous.  There  were  abundant 
declarations  from  the  very  reliable  sustainers,  that 
they  had  paid  their  pew-rents  and  their  subscriptions 
promptly,  and  they  Vv^ould  not  pay  a  cent  more.  Hap- 
pily, one  of  the  trustees,  known  to  be  a  very  close 
man,  said  in  my  hearing  that  he  would  give  fifty  dol- 
lars to  have  that  debt  paid.  There  was  a  suspicion, 
just  or  unjust,  that  he  made  the  proffer  because  he 
did  not  believe  that  its  condition  could  ever  be  fulfilled. 
But  I  seized  upon  it  as  my  opportunity.  I  went  to 
the  treasurer  and  assessed  him  at  $215,  and  to  another 
brother  more  able,  and  assessed  him  $250,  and  both 
responded  cheerfully.  Then  came  upon  my  book  the 
other  trustee's  $50,  and  we  had  more  than  one-fourth 
of   the  whole  amount  pledged   reliably.      Suffice   it  to 


Three  Years  at   Petaluma  95 

say  that  before  my  three  months  were  ended  for  which 
I  had  committed  myself,  the  debt  was  paid,  and  I 
think  that  the  righteous  indignation  had  changed  to 
brotherly  love. 

I  had  come  to  love  the  church,  and  wished  to  re- 
main with  it  quite  as  warmly  as  the  church  wished 
that  I  would,  and  so  a  call  was  extended  and  accepted, 
and  I  was  installed. 

A  few  months  after  this,  Mrs.  Pond  and  another 
lady  who  had  united  with  the  church  on  confession, 
conspired  to  repair  and  repaint  the  meeting-house,  and 
after  their  expedition  in  search  of  funds,  they  returned 
in  good  cheer.  *'  Everybody  welcomed  us,  said  that 
the  work  ought  to  be  done,  were  glad  we  had  under- 
taken it."     And  it  was  done. 

Then,  without  any  special  effort,  visible  at  any 
rate  to  human  eyes,  a  gentle  spiritual  interest  arose. 
In  the  choir  was  a  boy  just  emerging  into  manhood, 
but  still  singing  alto,  upon  whom  my  eyes  turned 
often  as  I  preached,  and  my  heart  still  oftener.  Young 
as  he  v/as  he  was  the  confidential  clerk  of  one  of  the 
leading  merchants  of  the  city.  He  appeared  at  one  of 
our  mid-week  meetings,  and  rose  to  say  that  he  meant 
hereafter,  with  Christ's  help,  to  live  for  Christ,  and 
it  seemed  to  him  supremely  good  to  have  thus  "  some- 
thing worth  living  for."  He  was  John  L.  Stephens, 
a  member  afterwards  of  the  first  class  to  graduate 
from  our  Seminary.  With  a  classmate,  David  Wat- 
kins  of  blessed  memory,  he  went  immediately  after 
graduation  to  the  city  of  Guadalajara,  Mexico,  and 
established  there  the  mission  of  the  American  Board, 
which  has  continued  to  this  day. 


96  Gospel  Pioneering 

I  am  quite  sure  that  no  other  of  our  foreign 
missions  ever  fruitened  so  quickly  as  this  one  did. 
Before  the  brethren  had  learned  the  language  well 
enough  to  preach  in  it,  a  goodly  number  of  earnest 
converts  gathered  about  them,  so  that  a  church,  if  I 
remember  correctly,  v^^as  organized  while  still  our 
brethren  had  it  for  their  first  duty  to  learn  to  speak 
Spanish  fluently.  By  tracts  and  a  little  newspaper 
which  they  could  issue  with  the  aid  of  a  translator, 
the  city  was  being  sufficiently  turned  upside  down  to 
bring  upon  them  the  wrath  of  the  priests.  But 
priestly  denunciations  and  threats  neither  daunted 
these  modern  apostles  nor  seemed  even  to  hinder  their 
success.  The  time  came  when  the  church  was  so 
strong  and  well  equipped  that  Stephens  went  forth  to 
another  city  and  gathered  about  him  some  children 
and  taught  them,  and  preached  to  such  others  as 
came  to  hear,  till  the  priest  preached  a  sermon  which 
roused  the  mob  spirit,  and  Stephens  was  dragged  from 
his  quarters  and  left  dead  and  mutilated  in  the  street. 
But  the  leader  of  the  mob,  when  he  saw  what  was 
done,  was  himself  pierced  to  the  heart  by  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  and  was  converted  and  became,  like  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  a  *'  preacher  of  the  faith  of  which  he  had 
made  havoc." 

But  I  am  running  far  in  advance  of  my  theme.  I 
remember  with  an  interest  deep  and  sweet  that  period 
of  quiet  inquiry  in  which  not  Stephens  only  but  about 
a  dozen  more  were  added  to  the  church. 

I  remember  with  much  less  satisfaction  an  evangel- 
istic campaign  which  soon  after  stirred  the  whole 
town.     Rev.  A.  B.  Earle,  who  had  come  to  high  re- 


WILLIAM  C.  POND,  AET.  50 


Three  Years  at  Petaluma  97 

pute  in  New  England  as  an  evangelist,  visited  Cali- 
fornia, and  his  meetings  in  other  cities  v^ere  reported 
to  have  been  attended  with  such  abundant  success 
that  we  in  Petaluma  sought  his  aid.  The  largest  audi- 
torium in  the  city  was  engaged,  and  it  was  thronged. 
The  usual  round  of  afternoon  services  for  testimony, 
for  confession  of  sin  and  for  consecration,  were  held, 
not  without  a  certain  consciousness  of  the  turning  of 
a  crank.  Once  or  twice  I  was  forced  to  rise  and  say 
something  like  this :  "  God  desireth  truth  in  the  in- 
ward parts."  But  I  went  into  the  work  with  all  the 
energy  at  my  command.  When  the  meetings  closed, 
I  used  every  means  I  could  devise,  with  an  intensity 
of  prayer  like  that  of  Jacob  which  changed  Jabbok  to 
Peniel  and  his  own  name  to  Israel.  To  each  of  the 
three  leading  churches,  the  Baptist,  Methodist  and 
Congregational,  an  almost  exactly  equal  number  were 
added,  120  in  all.  Three  months  afterwards  I  asked 
the  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Church  how  many  re- 
mained as  substantial  Christians.  His  reply  was,  "  Not 
one."  I  had  no  opportunity  of  asking  this  question  in 
regard  to  the  Baptist  Church  because  the  pastor,  a 
most  estimable  man,  was  soon  dismissed,  and  follow- 
ing this  the  church  was  reported  as  having  greatly  de- 
clined. Some  who  came  with  us  remained  staunch, 
but  the  quiet  interest  which  preceded  the  campaign 
added  much  more  to  the  strength  of  the  church  than 
did  that  which  came  with  observation. 

I  still  believe  most  heartily  in  evangelistic  effort, 
but  not  of  that  sort  in  which  hypnotism  masquerades 
as  the  very  Spirit  of  God.  I  believe  that  some  are 
called  of  God  especially  to  this  form  of  service,  and 


98  Gospel  Pioneering 

it  is  a  high  and  holy  calling.  But  the  essential  to  true 
success  in  it,  is  that  the  evangelist  be  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  the  fulness  of  his  gladsome 
consecration,  come  to  say  with  Paul,  *'  I  have  been 
crucified  with  Christ,  and  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  The  old  self-pleasing,  self- 
seeking,  self-trusting  self  dead,  and  Christ  occupying 
Its  place  so  fully  that  every  thought  is  brought  into 
glad  captivity  to  Him! 


The  Pacific  99 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  PACIFIC 

Not  the  ocean,  but  the  little  weekly  newspaper 
bearing  that  name,  and  which  I  am  sure  has  lived 
longer  than  any  other  newspaper  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
The  "  California  Christian  Advocate  "  followed  close 
after,  and  I  do  not  know  how  many  months  behind, 
but  "  The  Pacific  "  is  certainly  its  senior.  It  was  in 
existence  when  I  reached  San  Francisco,  having  been 
started  by  Rev.  John  W.  Douglas,  the  comrade  of 
Dr.  Willey  in  his  journey  to  this  new,  strange  land, 
and  with  his  cooperation  and  that  of  Rev.  J.  A. 
Benton  of  Sacramento  and  Rev.  T.  D.  Hunt  of  San 
Francisco.  Its  little  dingy  editorial  office  was  the 
rendezvous  for  all  the  New  School  Presbyterian  and 
Congregational  ministers  who  either  lived  in  San 
Francisco  or  came  to  it.  Some  traditions  talked  about 
then,  though  less  than  tw^o  years  old,  seemed  to  a  new- 
comer like  ancient  history : — How  because  of  a  scarcity 
of  white  paper  in  the  new  city,  they  had  been  obliged 
to  send  out  one  or  two  issues  on  coarse  brown  paper; 
how  the  paper  had  lived  through  divers  financial  vicis- 
situdes, for  printing  w^as  expensive,  and  those,  its 
editors  mainly,  who  were  responsible  for  the  bills,  had 
shallow  purses,  never  well  filled.  The  one  tradition 
which  most  impressed  me  was  that  this  paper  in  an 
article  written  by  Dr.  Willey,  with  proof  behind  him 
which  could  be  produced  if  necessary  and  could  not 
be  gainsaid,  disclosed  the  existence  of  a  plot  to  divide 


lOO  Gospel  Pioneering 

this  State  In  order  to  create  out  of  its  Southern  por- 
tion a  slave  State.  I  cannot  tell  the  story  in  detail, 
but  this  disclosure  spoiled  the  plot  and  was  viewed  at 
the  time  as  having  saved  us  from  that  calamity. 

One  of  the  unfailing  features  of  the  annual  "  Joint 
Meetings,"  was  the  ''crisis  in  the  affairs  of  '  The  Pa- 
cific' "  Bro.  Douglas,  whatever  fitnesses  he  might 
have,  or  not  have,  for  newspaper  or  other  work,  cer- 
tainly had  skill  in  developing  a  crisis,  and  thus  bringing 
those  of  us  to  terms  who  would  not  let  the  paper  die, 
and  we  expected  to  take  our  medicine,  no  matter  what 
it  w^as  or  how  bitter.  Indeed  it  became  a  sort  of  stand- 
ing joke  as  we  greeted  each  other,  "  What's  the  crisis 
this  time?"  I  remember  that  once  he  declared  that 
a  religious  paper  could  not  be  sustained  here  and  that 
he  had  felt  obliged  to  change  it  accordingly.  To  which 
I  responded  that  I  had  noticed  the  change  and  spoken 
of  it  privately;  a  **  less  religious  paper,"  I  had  said, 
"  than  the  New  York  Tribune,"  and  if  it  was  not  to 
be  a  religious  paper,  there  seemed  to  be  no  special 
reason  why  religious  people  should  be  asked  to  help 
it.  Whereupon  Dr.  Willey  hushed  my  intemperate 
speech  in  his  mildly  authoritative  way:  "It  is  a  re- 
ligious paper,  and  it  is  going  to  be  such,  and  it  must 
not  die."  At  length  Bro.  Douglas,  weary  of  his  task, 
and  perhaps  of  the  roughness  and  homelessness  of  life 
on  the  frontier,  left  us  for  the  East,  and  if  I  remem- 
ber correctly,  passed  over  before  many  3^ears  to  the 
other  side. 

It  was  a  good  day  for  us  all  when  Bro.  Warren 
resigning  his  pastorate  at  Nevada  City  came  dow^n 
to  take   charge  of  the   paper.     One  of  his  optimistic 


The  Pacific  ioi 

announcements  was  that  there  would  be  no  more 
"  crises."  And  there  were  none  during  the  four  years 
of  his  administration,  but  at  what  loss  to  himself,  the 
noble  soul  was  telling  none  of  us.  But  he  made  it  a 
live  paper.  His  style  was  admirably  journalistic, 
fresh,  glowing,  often  inspiring.  The  paper  was  always 
on  the  side  of  righteousness,  courageously  so,  intensely 
so.  He  resigned  in  order  to  become  Home  Missionary 
Superintendent,  and  carried  into  that  work  the  same 
energy,  optimism  and  tireless  devotion  with  which  he 
had  carried  the  load  of  the  newspaper.  The  wrong 
we  did  was  to  let  him  do  the  lifting  and  the  pulling 
so  entirely  alone. 

Yet  he  was  not  alone.  For  many  years,  and  I  am 
quite  sure  that  the  term  of  service  covered  all  the  four 
years  of  Dr.  Warren's  administration,  Rev.  S.  V. 
Blakeslee  pulled  the  laboring  oar.  He  was  the  asso- 
ciate editor  and  the  canvasser.  He  kept  the  subscrip- 
tion list  growing.  He  fully  believed  in  what  he  called 
"  This  Sterling  Weekly."  I  remember  how  in  the 
express  office  at  Downieville  I  used  to  see  a  pile  of 
'Tacifics  "  uncalled  for,  and  looking  them  over  was 
surprised  at  the  names  written  upon  them.  Bro. 
Blakeslee  would  visit  us,  take  the  pile  and  carry  the 
uncalled-for  papers  to  these  careless  subscribers,  and, 
undaunted  and  persuasive,  come  away  with  the  sub- 
scription continued  and  paid  in  advance.  We  came 
to  realize  how  great  the  debt  was  that  we  owed  him, 
fulfilling  a  task  no  other  man  among  us  could  have 
been  persuaded  to  undertake. 

The  "  crises  "  of  the  former  years  became,  however, 
the   "  problems  "  of  the   foUow^ing  ones,   and   various 


102  Gospel  Pioneering 

devices  were  proposed  for  putting  the  paper  on  a 
sound  financial  foundation.  At  one  time  it  was  pro- 
posed and  undertaken  to  raise  an  endowment  for  it 
of  $10,000,  but  it  never,  I  think,  got  beyond  a  reso- 
lution recommending  it.  Increasing  the  list  of  sub- 
scribers was  an  often  recurring  suggestion,  but  it  met 
the  same  sad  fate  Vv^ith  the  more  pretentious  one. 

For  several  years  Dr.  J.  W.  Clark,  of  precious 
memory,  was  chairman  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and 
contrived  to  pay  the  bills,  himself  assuming  the  labor 
of  folding  and  mailing  the  issues,  that  the  bills  might 
be  reduced.  And  Vv'hen  he  could  do  this  no  longer. 
Deacon  S.  S.  Smith  came  to  the  rescue  in  the  same 
unselfish  way.  Rev.  John  Kimball  being  the  managing 
editor,  and  between  them  bills  were  paid  whatever 
the  receipts  m.ight  be.  For  many  years  Drs.  Benton 
and  Mooar  and  one  other,  edited  the  paper  gratui- 
tously, and  so  long  as  this  was  done,  I  think  that 
there  were  no  deficits. 

I  have  not  attempted  to  state  these  recollections  in 
their  historic  order,  and  I  cannot  close  without  recur- 
ring to  one  event  Vv^hich  lives  more  vividly  in  my  mem- 
ory than  any  other  relating  to  our  paper.  It  occurred 
at  the  meeting  of  the  General  Association  in  1863. 
It  should  be  premised  that  at  several  preceding  meet- 
ings we  had  attempted  to  make  a  sort  of  budget  of 
expenses  and  divide  the  amount  to  be  raised  equally 
between  ourselves  and  our  Presbyterian  brethren ;  and 
at  no  time,  unless  my  memory  deceives  me,  did  our 
brethren  find  it  convenient  or  possible  to  bring  in  their 
quota.  At  the  above  meeting,  and  while  the  Associa- 
tion was  in  the  act  of  receiving  subscriptions  to  meet 


The  Pacific  103 

its  portion  of  the  debts  of  the  paper,  a  committee  from 
the  Synod  entered  bringing  this  proposition:  that  the 
Association  assume  the  sole  proprietorship  of  "  The  Pa- 
cific "together  with  its  liabilities,  or  that  the  Synod 
would  do  the  same.  I  judge  that  each  member  pres- 
ent felt  the  impulse  to  give  them  the  paper  and  thus 
relieve  ourselves  of  a  burden.  One  brother  made  a 
motion  to  that  effect,  and  it  was  seconded,  but  I  rose 
and  asked  for  time;  we  v/ould  be  rid  of  a  load,  but 
what  would  become  of  the  paper?  This  was  on  a 
Saturday  afternoon,  and  this  matter  was  made  a  special 
order  for  Monday  at  10  a.  m.  By  that  time  we  had 
recovered  from  our  surprise  and  were  all  of  one  mind. 
The  motion  was  lost,  and  it  was  voted  unanimously, 
that  we  would  take  the  paper  and  would  pay  its  bills. 
And  now  for  58  years  it  has  been  the  representative 
of  our  Congregational  churches  and  the  chief  organ 
of  our  mutual  fellowship,  covering  the  three  States  of 
Washington,  Oregon  and  California.  It  has  fulfilled 
its  duties  with  var}ang  skill  and  ability,  has  earned  and 
heard  a  grumble  now  and  then,  but  we  would  soon 
find  and  feel  its  value  if  we  were  compelled  to  miss 
it  for  awhile. 


I04  Gospel  Pioneering 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PACIFIC  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

Its  present  title  Is  *'  The  Pacific  School  of  Relig- 
ion," and  its  resources  are  sufficient  to  support  a 
large  and  ver}^  able  faculty.  It  is,  like  all  other  edu- 
cational institutions,  in  need  of  more  funds  and  prob- 
ably always  will  be  as  its  undertakings  increase.  And 
the  same  spirit  which  moved  us  at  the  outset  to  pro- 
pose a  Union  Seminary  sustained  by  all  sorts  of  truly 
Christian  people,  has  now,  while  it  is  amply  endowed 
and  owing  no  man  anything  but  love,  declared  the 
school  to  be  undenominational,  and  has  invited  to  its 
Faculty  good  and  able  men  from  among  the  Baptists, 
Disciples,  and  Methodists,  and  has  even  elected  rep- 
resentatives of  these  denominations  as  members  of  its 
Board  of  Trustees. 

As  far  back  as  1858,  at  the  second  meeting  of  our 
General  Association  (the  previous  meetings  for  fel- 
lowship, of  which  several  had  been  held,  not  being 
regarded  as  large  enough  to  bear  a  name  so  dignified), 
a  committee,  of  which  Rev.  E.  S.  Lacy  was  the  chair- 
man, presented  a  vigorous  report  on  the  education  of 
young  men  for  the  ministry,  the  first  sentence  of 
which  gives  the  germanent  idea  of  the  whole:  "The 
distance  stretching  between  us  and  the  theological  In- 
stitutions of  the  East  renders  it  necessary  that  we  take 
measures  for  rearing  a  ministry  of  our  own."  The 
measures,  however,  suggested  for  meeting  this  neces- 
sity, did  not  Include  a  seminary  all  our  own. 


The   Pacific  Theological   Seminary     105 

I  find  in  the  minutes  of  the  annual  meetings  of 
1859  and  i860  intense  expressions  concerning  the 
woeful  lack  of  both  churches  and  pastors  in  our  State, 
but  no  action  proposed  with  reference  to  supplying 
the  need,  except  by  appealing  to  young  men  in  Eastern 
seminaries.  But  the  suggestion  in  Mr.  Lacy's  re- 
port of  1858  w^as  like  a  seed  germinating  in  our 
hearts,  as  appears  in  the  Report  on  Education  pre- 
sented at  the  session  in  i860  by  Brothers  Ira  P.  Ran- 
kin, E.  G.  Beckwith  and  E.  P.  Flint.  The  second 
resolution  is  as  follows.  "  Resolved  that  we  deem  it 
of  vital  importance  that,  at  the  earliest  day  possible, 
facilities  be  provided  within  our  own  limits  for  the 
education  of  a  competent  Christian  ministry  for  the 
service  of  our  own  churches." 

In  1 86 1  a  resolution  was  adopted  recommending 
"  a  continued  and  increasing  interest  in  the  College  of 
California  ...  as  a  special  aid  in  training  young  men 
of  our  churches  for  the  ministry  of  the  Word." 

In  1862  and  1863  the  records  reveal  nothing  said 
or  done  along  this  line.  It  is  in  1864  that  my  remi- 
niscences begin.  I  was  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Education.  Our  report  dwelt  earnestly  and  some- 
what at  length  on  an  awakening  of  interest  in  our 
public  schools,  and  on  the  levying  of  a  tax  which 
would  double  the  amount  theretofore  expended  in  sus- 
taining them ;  urging  the  establishment  of  public  high 
schools,  or,  if  this  could  not  be  done,  of  academies 
supported  by  private  beneficence.  But  the  suggestion 
fraught  with  the  most  practical  results  was  this: 
"  The  fact  that  three  out  of  the  four  alumni  of  our 
college  are  contemplating  preparation  for  the  ministry 


io6  Gospel  Pioneering 

suggests  that  the  time  is  coming  and  now  is  when  a 
theological  seminary  should  be  a  matter  of  definite 
consideration  with  reference  to  practical  action."  Pur- 
suant to  this  suggestion  the  Bay  Association  was  ap- 
pointed as  a  standing  committee  to  have  this  matter 
before  their  thoughts  and  to  report  progress  from 
year  to  year.  This  led  at  the  next  meeting  (1865) 
to  the  introduction  and  adoption  of  an  elaborate  re- 
port from  a  committee  consisting  of  Revs.  I.  E. 
Dwinell  and  George  Mooar  and  delegate  James  M. 
Haven  proposing  among  other  things  this:  that  in 
view  of  the  utter  impossibility  that  any  one  denomi- 
nation could  establish  a  seminary,  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  correspond  with  representative  men  of 
other  denominations  inviting  them  to  unite  with  us 
in  this  effort.  It  seemed  clear  that  by  far  the  larger 
part  of  the  studies  pursued  would  be  upon  truths  and 
duties  upon  which  all  denominations  w^ould  be  agreed, 
and  that  each  denomination  could  safeguard  its  own 
young  men  and  all  its  other  interests  by  appointing  a 
lecturer,  or  even  a  professor,  whose  theme  should  be 
the  specialties  of  his  own  people.  This  committee  con- 
sisted of  the  Revs.  Dwinell,  Beckwith  and  Pond  and 
Deacons  T.  B.  Bigelow  and  Jacob  Bacon. 

This  committee  wrote  in  accordance  wnth  these  in- 
structions; and  it  perhaps  represents  the  distance 
which  Christ's  followers  have  traveled  towards  unity, 
however  far  we  may  still  be  from  it,  to  say  that  to 
our  quite  elaborate  and  very  courteous  communica- 
tion, only  one  reply  at  all  favorable  was  received. 
This  one,  which  came  from  Rev.  Frederick  Buel,  who 
then  represented  the  American  Bible  Society  upon  this 


The  Pacific  Theological  Seminary     107 

coast,  stated  that  while  the  Presbyterians  could  not 
participate  in  founding  such  an  institution,  he  thought 
if  we  would  found  one,  and  if  they  had  any  young 
men  lookng  towards  the  ministry,  they  might  send 
them  to  us. 

It  is  in  somewhat  curious  antithesis  to  this  that  be- 
fore we  had  graduated  our  first  class,  a  Presbyterian 
seminary  was  started,  and  the  only  young  man  of  that 
denomination  who  had  ventured  into  our  little  circle 
was  withdrawn  from  us  under  threat  of  losing  the 
aid  of  the  Presbyterian  Education  Board. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Association  (that  of  1866) 
was  held  at  Sacramento,  and  this  committee  submit- 
ted its  report.  I  shall  never  forget  that  hour.  I 
have  known  no  parallel  to  it  at  any  meeting  except 
the  one  at  Cloverdale  when  we  undertook  to  be  no 
longer  dependent  on  the  National  Home  Missionary 
Society.  In  both  cases  we  were  awestruck  at  the  im- 
mensity of  the  undertaking  as  compared  with  our  re- 
sources, our  churches  being  so  few  and  almost  all  of 
them  so  feeble.  Yet  in  both  cases  there  came  that 
sacred  hush  in  which  we  instinctively  recognize  the 
presence  and  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  In  response 
to  our  earnest  and  inwrought  prayer.  He  bade  us  go 
forward,  and  we  obeyed. 

Legal  advice  had  been  secured  as  to  the  way  to  or- 
ganize our  corporation,  and  it  came  into  existence 
forthwith  under  the  name  of  "  The  Congregational 
Theological  Seminary  of  California."  This  was  after- 
wards changed,  under  legal  advice,  to  the  even  more 
cumbrous  title  of  "  The  President  and  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  Pacific  Theological  Seminary." 


io8  Gospel  Pioneering 

It  is  interesting  and  pathetic  to  follow  in  the 
records  of  the  Trustees  the  efforts  made  to  secure  a 
financial  basis  broad  enough  and  firm  enough  to 
justify  establishing  even  the  smallest  superstructure 
adapted  to  our  undertaking.  We  began  by  making 
each  member  of  the  Board  a  solicitor,  with  reference 
to  raising  an  endowment  fund  of  $50,000.  This  fail- 
ing, Dr.  Dwinell,  proposing  to  take,  on  his  own  ac- 
count, a  journey  eastward,  was  made  our  agent  to 
gather  funds  there.  But  his  health  gave  way,  and  he 
was  forced  to  return  empty  handed.  The  first  an- 
nual report  of  the  treasurer  showed  liabilities  amount- 
ing to  $350  and  no  assets.  Let  us  not  wonder  at 
this,  still  less  censure  either  the  churches  or  the  Board. 
There  w^re  in  September,  1866,  thirty-two  Congrega- 
tional churches  in  the  whole  of  California.  Only 
three  of  these  had  a  membership  of  100  or  more. 
Our  strongest  church,  on  which  almost  all  the  others 
leaned,  was  the  First  in  San  Francisco,  with  352 
members.  The  total  membership  was  1428,  with  127 
non-resident.  There  was  not  a  single  wealthy  man, 
according  to  present  standards,  among  them  all. 

At  length  success  began  to  dawn.  What  was  called 
an  endowment  of  $25,000  was  made  up,  mainly,  I 
think,  through  the  influence  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stone,  so 
that  we  might  establish  a  professorship  of  Biblical 
Literature  and  begin  our  work. 

Strictly  speaking,  however,  it  was  not  an  endow- 
ment, seeing  it  was  made  up  almost  wholly  of  notes 
given  without  substantial  security,  wnth  an  under- 
standing that  while  interest  was  paid  the  notes  would 
not  be  collected.     This  was,  however,  the  only  sort  of 


The  Pacific  Theological  Seminary     109 

endowment  possible  to  be  made,  and  the  men  who  con- 
tributed to  it  are  not  to  be  criticised  but  to  be  hon- 
ored. They  were  comparatively  young  men,  and  their 
firms  young.  They  had  little  or  no  capital  that  was 
not  urgently  needed  in  the  conduct  of  their  large 
business.  They  did  what  they  could.  I  remember 
personally  only  two  of  the  subscribing  firms.  Each  of 
these  pledged  $4000,  and  both  of  them  paid  their  sub- 
scriptions a  hundred  cents  on  the  dollar.  Some  others 
must  have  done  the  same,  since  at  one  time  the  Board 
was  considering  the  investment  of  $10,000.  I  cannot 
forbear  to  mention  these  two:  Flint,  Peabody  &  Co., 
and  L.  B.  Benchley  &  Co.  Mr.  Edward  P.  Flint,  of 
the  former  firm,  continued  with  us  longer  than  any 
others.  It  is  more  than  sixty-eight  years  since  I  first 
met  him,  a  very  young  man,  yet  the  leading  partner  in 
a  firm  said  to  be  doing  a  larger  business,  or  at  any  rate 
having  more  ships  consigned  to  it,  than  any  other  in 
the  city.  But  then,  and  ever  since,  the  work  of  the 
churches  has  been  foremost  with  him,  and  no  good 
enterprise  connected  w^ith  them  seems  to  have  escaped 
his  notice  or  failed  to  receive  his  cooperation. 

"  Planted  in  the  house  of  Jehovah, 

"  He  flourished  in  the  courts  of  our  God, 

"  Still  bringing  forth  fruit  in  old  age, 

"  Full  of  sap  and  green."    Ps.  92:13,  14. 

"  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord: 

"  From  henceforth,  yea,  saith  the  Spirit, 

"  They  rest  from  their  labors, 

"  For  their  work  follows  with  them, 

"  Celestial    and   eternal   like   themselves." 

Rev.  14:13. 


no  Gospel  Pioneering 

Deacon  Benchley  was  the  first  treasurer  of  the  Sem- 
inary, and  for  many  years  the  admirable  superinten- 
dent of  the  Sunday  School  of  our  First  Church  in 
San  Francisco,  a  man  whom  one  loved  to  meet,  so 
cordial  personally,  so  interested  In  whatever  pertained 
to  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  so  forward 
in  every  good  work  that  I  have  known  him  to  experi- 
ence the  trials  which  beset  those  thus  forward,  as  be- 
ing the  one  to  be  grumbled  at.  If  anything  had  gone 
wrong,  the  question  arose,  *'  Why  did  not  Deacon 
Benchley  attend  to  it?"  A  broken  promise  of  some 
church,  or  to  some  church,  or  to  a  mission,  or  the 
Seminary,  was  somehow  viewed  as  Dea.  Benchley *s 
promise,  or  at  any  rate  one  for  whose  fulfilment  he 
w^as  responsible.  And  I  dare  say  he  sometimes  found 
such  a  position  irksome  to  be  occupied,  but  I  never 
knew  him  to  be  ruffled  by  it.  I  think  that  he  just 
went  right  on  doing  what  he  could,  and  years  ago  he 
doubtless  heard  the  Master  say,  "  Well  done." 

By  faith  in  that  endowment,  we  ventured  upon  our 
first  step  forward  as  a  real  Seminary.  Early  in  Jan- 
uary, 1869,  we  elected  as  our  Professor  of  Sacred  Lit- 
erature, Rev.  Joseph  A.  Benton.  This  brother,  more 
than  twenty  years  before,  listening  to  an  inward  call 
from  God,  had  left  behind  him  the  opportunity  to 
serve  as  pastor  one  of  the  most  attractive  churches  in 
Massachusetts,  to  come  at  his  ow^n  risk  and  charges 
to  California.  He  was  the  founder  and  for  nearly 
twenty  years  the  pastor  of  our  church  in  Sacramento, 
and  at  this  time  was  pastor  of  our  Second  Church  in 
San  Francisco. 

No  less  a  scholar   for  having  been   a   pioneer,   he 


The  Pacific  Theological  Seminary     hi 

was  courageous  enough  to  accept  our  invitation,  and 
in  March,  1869,  the  fourth  floor  of  a  small  building 
on  Montgomery  Street  having  been  rented,  a  Junior 
class  of  three  was  formed,  two  of  whom,  David  F. 
Watkins  and  John  L.  Stephens,  were  afterwards 
pioneer  missionaries  of  our  American  Board  in  cen- 
tral Mexico,  with  headquarters  at  Guadalajara.  I 
think  that  no  other  mission  of  our  Board  ever 
equalled  that  in  the  speed  it  made  in  securing  the  at- 
tention of  the  people  or  in  leading  them  in  large  num- 
bers to  the  Lamb  of  God.  And  therefore  no  mission, 
perhaps,  ever  stirred  such  a  bitter  opposition  from  the 
priesthood.  To  that  murderous  hate  young  Stephens 
fell  a  victim  and  a  martyr,  as  in  a  previous  chapter  I 
have  said.  But  the  work  went  on,  and  the  leader  of 
the  mob  that  slew  him  and  mutilated  his  dead  body, 
impressed  in  some  way  (like  Saul  of  Tarsus  at  the 
stoning  of  Stephen,  finding  it  hard  to  kick  against  the 
goads)  became  a  very  apostle  of  the  faith  he  had 
sought  to  destroy,  and  more  than  filled  the  place  his 
rage  had  made  vacant. 

I  wish  I  could  reproduce  for  others  the  vivid  pic- 
ture on  my  memory  of  that  fourth-story  loft.  It  was 
for  the  three  students  home,  study,  seminary  library, 
recitation  room  and  place  of  earnest  and  united  prayer, 
but  w^ith  an  equipment  in  material  things  anything 
else  than  inspiring.  But  here  walked  and  worked  with 
them  a  teacher  who  did  not  despise  the  day  of  small 
things,  faithful,  patient,  reticent,  but  deep  down  in 
his  heart  grandly  enthusiastic,  —  more  than  a  shep- 
herd, a  father,  to  his  little  flock,  living  and  enduring 
as  seeing  things  that  were  invisible. 


112  Gospel  Pioneering 

As  we  approached  a  second  year  in  our  work,  so 
that  another  professor  was  needed,  Rev.  Dr.  Stone 
consented  to  go  East  and  endeavor  to  provide  for  the 
endowment  of  this  professorship.  He  was  gone  but 
a  little  while,  for  on  April  15,  1870,  he  had  returned 
and  reported  $18,683.40  assured  and  a  virtual  promise 
from  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church  in  New  York 
of  at  least  $10,000,  and  an  undertaking  to  make  it 
$25,000  as  a  complete  endowment.  This  promise, 
which  may  not  have  been  so  absolute  as  Dr.  Stone 
understood  it  to  be,  was  at  any  rate  never  fulfilled. 
But  the  apparent  success  of  Dr.  Stone's  mission  filled 
us  with  good  cheer,  and  Rev.  Dr.  George  Mooar  was 
called  to  the  professorship  of  Biblical  Theology,  and 
accepted  the  invitation. 

I  cannot  pass  on  without  speaking  the  tribute  my 
heart  craves  the  privilege  of  paying  this  modest,  un- 
assuming, noble  man,  in  his  department  one  of  the 
best  read  and  most  learned  men  of  our  or  any  other 
generation,  expressing  his  views  and  the  reasons  for 
them  with  great  clearness  and  simplicity  and  modest 
grace,  so  that  I  cannot  remember  an  instance  of  his 
speaking,  even  in  the  three-minute  remarks  at  our 
ministers'  meetings,  without  feeling  fed  with  just  the 
right  word  in  just  the  right  place.  Called  to  pass 
through  severe  afflictions,  he  bore  himself  so  bravely, 
so  quietly  in  submission  to  the  Heavenly  Father,  that 
to  look  in  his  face  or  to  walk  silently  by  his  side  was 
for  me  a  fresh  inspiration,  a  fresh  aspiration.  At 
length  he  was  not,  for  God  took  him. 

The  members  of  our  first  class  were  ill-prepared  for 
a  course  of  study  such  as  was  prepared  for  them,  and 


The   Pacific  Theological  Seminary     113 

those  who  offered  themselves  for  a  second  class  were 
at  a  like  disadvantage.  This  suggested  the  establish- 
ment of  an  academy  where  men  who  evidently  could 
not  take  a  college  course  might  have  a  special  and 
less  expensive  preparation  for  seminary  duties.  It  was 
believed  that  such  an  academy  Vv^ould  be  more  than 
self-sustaining,  so  that  the  income  from  it  would  help 
meet  our  seminary  expenses. 

About  this  time  there  was  in  Oakland  a  real  estate 
boom,  and  there  was  also  on  the  sightly  summit  of  a 
knoll,  about  a  mile  from  the  center  of  the  city,  a 
large  and  comely  building  erected  for  a  seminary  for 
young  ladies.  Rev.  E.  B.  Walsw^orth  had  resigned 
his  pastorate  in  Marysville  to  undertake  the  founding 
and  conducting  of  this  seminar}^  If  I  remember  cor- 
rectly, it  was  he  who  had  purchased  the  knoll  and  a 
considerable  tract  around  it  and  had  erected  the  build- 
ing, expecting  that  the  sale  of  lots  would  materially 
help  him  to  meet  his  bills.  He  had  found  the  under- 
taking too  heavy  for  him,  and  the  attention  of  our 
trustees  was  called  to  the  spot  as  affording  us  a  fine 
building,  sufficient  to  accommodate  both  the  academy 
and  the  seminary,  and  with  this  a  fine  campus,  while 
the  lots,  which  the  seminary  itself  would  make  desir- 
able, would  enable  us  to  pay  for  the  w^hole  property 
and  get  our  campus  and  our  building  free. 

Over  a  prospect  so  inviting  all  the  members  of  the 
Board  but  one  became  enthusiastic.  That  one  stub- 
bornly declared,  without  at  all  undertaking  to  con- 
sider probabilities  of  success,  that  it  was  no  part  of 
the  business  of  a  theological  seminary  to  speculate  in 
real  estate,  or,  indeed,  in  anything.    To  gently  punish 


114  Gospel  Pioneering 

this  obstinacy,  it  was  decided  to  take  the  vote  by  yeas 
and  nays,  and  have  it  thus  recorded,  the  only  instance 
during  the  nearly  thirty  years  of  my  service  as  secre- 
tary of  the  Board  in  which  this  was  required ;  and  the 
"  nay  "  appears  as  that  of  the  secretary  himself. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  good  many  lots  were  sold, 
especially  to  friends  of  the  seminary,  whether  with 
profit  to  them  or  not,  I  have  never  ventured  to  in- 
quire. But  a  great  many  w^re  not  sold,  and  the  debt 
incurred  in  the  purchase  of  the  property  began  omi- 
nously to  increase  through  our  inability  to  pay  the 
interest.  I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  those  days. 
The  records  as  I  read  them  even  now  seem  to  throb 
with  the  heart-aches.  Dr.  Mooar  was  sent  East,  so 
the  record  says,  "  to  raise  $30,000  as  the  least  sum 
that  will  meet  immediate  and  urgent  necessities."  But 
these  necessities  were  not  met.  The  academy,  instead 
of  helping  us,  showed  an  annual  deficit  of  $800,  and 
loan  upon  loan  was  made  for  "  pressing  needs." 

Rev.  Eli  Corwin  had  been  appointed  financial 
agent,  and  had  gathered  a  few  subscriptions,  one  or 
two  of  which  were  afterwards  made  useful  to  us,  but 
he  soon  resigned  and  went  East,  where  he  did  good 
work  till  God  called  him.  One  day  it  occurred  that 
Deacon  L.  B.  Benchley,  of  blessed  memory,  took  me 
riding  to  see  some  of  the  work  that  he  was  doing,  and 
availed  himself  of  that  opportunity  to  suggest  that  I 
take  up  the  work  w^hich  Brother  Corwin  had  laid 
dow^n.  I  do  not  remember  that  I  had  thought  of  such 
a  thing  before,  but  his  w^ords  came  to  me  as  a  call 
from  the  Master  himself.  I  am  not  quite  sure  that 
all  of  the  Directors  saw  any  hope  in  the  suggestion, 


The  Pacific  Theological  Seminary     115 

but  it  was  adopted  and  I  accepted  the  Invitation.  It 
was  not  exactly  a  new  work  with  me,  for  it  had  fallen 
to  my  lot  before,  when  any  subscription  for  ''  The 
Pacific,"  or  for  any  other  matter  of  general  interest, 
seemed  likely  to  fall  through,  to  have  it  turned  over 
to  me;  but  nothing  approaching  this  in  size  or  diffi- 
culty had  ever  been  required  of  me.  I  was  sure  that 
before  going  Eastward,  I  must  be  able  to  show  that 
we  in  California  cared  enough  about  the  seminary  to 
give  for  it  generously.  The  amount  agreed  upon  as 
necessary  was  $35,000,  and  subscriptions  were  to  be 
sought,  collectible  only  when  the  whole  amount  had 
been  subscribed.  Then  instead  of  waiting  till  I  could 
reach  individuals  able  to  make  large  subscriptions,  I 
determined  to  appeal  to  the  churches  and  ask  for  gifts 
large  or  small,  believing  that  thus  I  would  not  only 
raise  a  considerable  amount  in  small  gifts,  but  would 
give  to  any  individuals  on  whom  I  would  call  for 
larger  offerings,  a  statement  of  the  facts  much  more 
complete  and  effective  than  could  possibly  be  given  in 
a  private  conversation.  I  had  2000  subscription  cards 
printed,  each  one  perforated  at  one  corner.  I  cut  a 
large  number  of  lead  pencils  Into  three  parts  and  at- 
tached a  pencil  to  each  card. 

I  began  my  work  at  the  Sacramento  Church,  with 
the  cordial  and  effective  backing  of  Dr.  Dwinell.  Be- 
fore the  hour  for  service,  one  or  more  of  these  cards 
was  suspended  from  the  book-rack  in  every  pew,  and 
in  closing  my  address,  attention  was  called  to  these, 
and  on  Monday  I  went  about  accompanied  by  Dr. 
Dwinell,  and  had  the  subscriptions  entered  on  my 
book,  and   I   left   the  city  with  $1,700  pledged,   and 


ii6  Gospel  Pioneering 

thanked  God  and  took  courage.  In  this  way  I  tried 
to  make  an  appeal  to  every  Congregational  church, 
large  or  small.  I  did  not  reach  Humboldt  County, 
which  was,  I  now  think,  a  mistake.  The  churches 
there  were  then  few  and  very  small,  the  region  diffi- 
cult of  access,  the  expense  involved  would  be  quite 
large,  but  there  was  one  good  brother  in  that  county 
who  could,  and  I  now  believe  w^ould,  have  helped  us 
with  a  large  donation.  And  I  did  not  reach  Ventura 
or  Los  Angeles,  because  I  was  taken  sick  at  Santa 
Barbara  and  brought  down  to  the  very  gate  of  death. 
I  was  most  tenderly  nursed  by  kind  friends,  all  whose 
faces  were  new  to  me  less  than  a  w^eek  before.  As 
soon  as  I  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  bear  the  jour- 
ney, I  was  obliged  to  return  home.  I  was  disap- 
pointed in  not  visiting  Ventura;  but  as  to  our  little 
pioneer  church  in  Los  Angeles,  I  was  proposing  to 
visit  that,  rather  to  express  sympathy  with  it  in  its 
struggle  to  exist,  than  to  ask  from  it  any  aid. 

When  this  work  was  complete  we  had  $13,000 
pledged  in  California.  It  does  not  seem  like  a  large 
sum  now,  but  then  it  was  simply  wonderful.  We 
had  at  that  time  in  California,  North  and  South,  about 
fifty  churches,  not  one  of  them  a  strong  church  even 
according  to  the  standards  of  that  day;  the  two  strong- 
est, the  first  in  San  Francisco  and  the  first  in  Oak- 
land, loaded  with  debt  almost  to  the  w^ater's  edge. 
There  were  in  these  fifty  churches  just  three  men  who 
might  be  regarded  as  rich,  Mr.  Russ  of  Ferndale, 
Mr.  George  Locke  of  Lockeford,  and  Mr.  Edward 
Coleman  of  Grass  Valley,  accrediting  him  with  the 
wealth  of  himself  and  his  brother.     Each  of  the  two 


The  Pacific  Theological  Seminary     117 

latter  gave  $1000.  The  one  first  named  was  the  one 
whom  I  failed  to  see  because  I  was  prevented  from 
reaching  Humboldt  County. 

The  second  was  a  farmer  whose  home  was  at 
Lockeford  in  San  Joaquin  County.  I  think  that  every 
one  who  knew  him  called  him  "  George."  Any  term 
more  deferential  did  not  seem  to  fit  him  well.  He  was 
for  several  years  a  regular  attendant  at  the  meetings 
of  our  General  Association,  but  always,  in  person,  in 
garb,  in  manners,  apparently  a  backwoods  farmer. 
But  sit  down  and  talk  with  him  on  almost  any  really 
worthy  theme,  and  you  would  find  beneath  all  this 
external  roughness  a  mind  as  clear,  a  purpose  as  hon- 
est and  a  heart  as  true  as  any  that  was  ever  wrapped 
in  broadcloth  or  made  to  express  itself  in  the  manners 
of  a  Chesterfield. 

I  met  him  in  Stockton.  He  was,  I  think,  purchas- 
ing lumber.  At  any  rate  he  w^as  in  a  lumber  yard, 
and  we  sat  down  on  a  pile  of  it  and  talked.  He  lis- 
tened intently  to  my  plea,  and,  if  I  correctly  remem- 
ber, asked  how  much  I  wanted  him  to  pledge.  There 
was  a  quick  beating  at  the  heart,  with  a  fear  lest  I 
should  spoil  it  all,  but  I  summoned  courage  and  said, 
"A  thousand  dollars."  He  really  seemed  to  be  pleased, 
and  wrote  his  name  for  that  amount.  Then  he  took 
me  to  his  home,  gathered  some  friends  for  an  evening 
meeting,  and  with  his  effective  backing  my  simple  tale 
brought  $200  more. 

Edward  Coleman  was  every  inch  a  gentleman.  I 
met  him  at  his  mine  in  Grass  Valley,  with  his  miner's 
garb  upon  him.  He  at  once  evinced  sympathy  with 
our  undertaking,   and  he  little  knew  how  comforted 


ii8 


(  losi'i.i.   l*i()N  i;i;rinci 


and  St  r('M^!;thcn('«l  I  was  when  his  name  went  down 
for  l/)i()()<).  AiiolluT  sccoc  in  a  later  yrnr  conies  up 
to  niiiid,  v\  lien  lie  was  no  loii^cf  a  niinci'  hut  a  San 
l^'rancisco  ta|)itahst,  and  l*roi.  Hcnton  and  I  called 
U|)on  him  at  his  home.  His  hrother  was  with  him, 
.'ind  I  ihitd';  lli.il  llicy  weic  e\|)e(tinjj;  ns  to  call.  At 
any  latc  I  hey  wcic  icady  to  meet  ns  and  we  had 
scarcely  need  to  Icll  oni  ei  rand  helore  we  received  a 
pledge  for  .fis<  >,<><>'>•  1 1  is  <Iyin^  )i;ift  was  l/is^.t )()(). 
Oh!  it  is  ^ood  to  see  men  like  these,  who  tount  their 
wealth  a  sacred  trust,  and  ask  loncermn^;  it:  "  Lord, 
what    will    thou    h.'ivc  me  do?" 

I  Icll  ih.il  with  such  pia(li(;d  testimony  home  on 
the  {ground  to  the  need  .uul  v.iluc  ol  a  theolo)j,i(  al 
seminary,  I  coidd  j-o  I'",asl  with  (()uia(j;c.  I  thou^i;ht 
also  that  C'rdiloiiua  stood  so  ncaily  alone  amon^^; 
Western  states,  .ind  ha\in;_':  so  many  spci  i.d  points  ol 
interest,  woidd  ol  ilsell  win  l.ivoi  to  my  cause  and 
make  m\'  work  (ompai  ;il  i\'ely  easy.  I  was  lurlher- 
more  endorsed  hy  the  College  Society,  and  at  lenj:;th, 
aided  hy  an  appropriation  from  it.  I  had  $22,()()()  to 
raise  in  oidei  to  m.ike  suhscript  ions  avail.ihle.  I  hoped 
to  \n'\  it  within  lour  months,  \U\\  it  took  miie  months 
of  the  hardest  and  most  cross  hearing:;  toil  that  ever 
Icll  to  my  lot.  I  hc;'an  in  Winchester,  a  suhiirh  of 
IJoston,  where  my  dear  friend,  l.dwin  C  IJissell,  who 
had  heen  pastor  of  the  (ireen  Si  reel  Church  in  San 
I'rancisco,  was  thi'  pastor.  I  continued  the  use  of  my 
suhscnplion  c;irds,  hani^mjj,  ihcm  in  the  hook-racks. 
The  ics|)onse  v\as  very  fM'ncious,  as  I  afterwards 
looked  hack  upon  it,  hut  not  u|)  to  my  ^lowin^  and 
reasoidess    antu  ipalions.      It     would     take     more     than 


Till':    IVacmic    Til  I  oiocicai,    Si:minak\'       ii*) 


cis'Iitccti  MM  li  icspoiiscs  to  send  iiic  liomc  willi  my  I'oii! 
rc.'iclicd.  As  I  look  l);i(  I<  ii|)oi!  I  lie  (  ;m\';iss,  I  :iiii  nnl 
smpnscd  lli.il  il  look  so  loti;'  oi  lli.il  tin-  uoik  \v;is  so 
li.ird.  I'.vcii  hcloic  il  w  ;is  Imi.licd,  I  l)c;';iii  lo  l)c  siir 
|)ris(*d  lli.'il  p.islois  so  (!iccilidl\  opened  llien  piil|)its 
to  me  (tor  I  li.id  sciivcdy  ;i  sii.ide  idl<-  Siiiid.iv),  ;md 
lli.il  siK  11  ;i  imihiliide  ol  people  mi  veiy  modei.ile  (ll 
ciinislnnces  opened  llieir  purses  lo  help  me.  New 
I''n)j;l;iiid  ( lirisl  inns  seemed  lo  me,  unlike  ns  in  (';il 
fonii.'i,  to  l.ike  llie  uliole  (oiintiA  ;ind  llie  vvliol<'  world 
;is  their   h"(dd. 

A    j'ood    iii.inv    iiK  ideiits   live   in    my   memoiy.      I    will 
ji;ive   t  vA'o  ol    t  hem  : 

In    one    ol     llie    moimt.'ifii    towns    of    M.'iss.'iclnisctts 
there   lived   ;in  old   h.irhelor  n.imed    llitclicock,   who,   hy 
cxlicme    in(|ir.li\,      .l;ill     ;ind    e(  oiioiiiy,    h;i(l    .im.issed    ;i 
fortune,     wdiic  li     in     his    old     :i;'e     he    w;is     disl  rihiilinc; 
m.'iinly   to  yoiinj'   (ollej'cs.     I    went    to  see   limi  .'ind   told 
him    my   eii:ind,    .ind    cime   ;iw;iy    with    ;i    (oiiiteons    re- 
liis.il.       A    I'ood    (|e;il    de|)ie',sed,    I    \\cu\    to    my    room    ;il 
the   hotel,    ende;i vol  iiij'    I)\'    |)i;iyer    lo    restore    my    (oiir 
;i|';e   while    I    whittled   |)en<  il  .  ;ind   .idpi.ted    them    to  siih 
scription  (.irds   (or  my   ne\l    Sunday's   wdik.     At    leni'tli 
[    wris    (.died    down    to    hiid    th;it     Mr.     llil(li(o.  k    lind 
c.-illed    upon    me.       And    the    oiil(ome   <A    this   se(  ond    m 
terview    w.'is   ;i   |)romise   oi    f) '-; ,' »  x  >.       liiil    he   would    not 
|)iit    his    n;ime    down    in    the     ,iil)',(  ri|)l  ion    hook    or    |Mve 
iiM-    .'inythin''    more    th.in    his    oi.illy    iilteicd    word.       f 
felt    tliril     lor   so    l;ir;'e    .-i    sum     I    mill    h.ive    somethini'; 
more,  holli  lo  h.K  k    ii|)  my  st;ilemenl    th.it   sik  h  ."i   prom 
ise  h;i(l    heeii    lii.'ide,   .'iiid,   not    Ics,    to  J'lve   me   some    hold 
on    his    est;ite,    ']i    he    should    die    Ixdore    the    elioit     w;is 


I20  Gospel  Pioneering 

completed.  I  had  heard  that  if  he  lost  a  copper  cent, 
he  would  not  count  hours  wasted  if  used  in  the  search 
for  it.  I  thought  I  would  try  him  with  a  postal  card, 
and  while  on  the  train  returning  from  his  village,  I 
thought  of  an  innocent  yet  practical  question  which 
he  could  answer  in  a  few  words,  and  enclosed  in  my 
letter  a  postal  card  addressed  to  myself,  on  which  he 
could  write  the  answer.  He  did  not  let  the  postal 
card  be  wasted,  and  I  had  in  his  answer  what  I  re- 
garded as  ample  evidence  of  his  promise.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  he  did  die  suddenly,  before  I  had  finished 
my  job,  but  I  received  the  $5000  in  full. 

The  other  had  a  different  conclusion :  I  called 
upon  Hon.  Rufus  S.  Frost  of  Chelsea,  and  was  most 
courteously  received,  and  was  rewarded  with  a  sub- 
scription of  $100  and  with  a  promise  to  do  something 
for  me  much  better  than  that.  "  I  am  president  of 
the  Congregational  Club,"  he  said,  "  and  I  will  call 
upon  you  for  an  address  at  its  next  meeting."  I  went 
away  gladdened  to  the  very  bottom  of  my  heart.  An 
address  there  would  tell,  much  more  fully  and  effect- 
ively than  I  could  possibly  state  it  in  private  con- 
versation, the  story  of  our  need,  and  would  tell  it  to 
at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  very  men  whom 
I  most  desired  to  meet. 

I  prepared  myself  carefully,  and  was  seated  where 
Mr.  Frost  could  not  fail  to  see  me,  but  two  very  noted 
Congregational  magnates  of  England  were  to  speak, 
and  I  was  quite  sure  that  they  would  occupy  all  the 
time,  or  if  they  did  not,  Mr.  Frost  might  shrink  from 
calling  out  such  a  one  as  myself  after  the  tw^o  great 
men   had   spoken.      He  did   not   forget  me,   but   in   a 


The   Pacific  Theological   Seminary     121 

most  cordial  way  introduced  me.  I  went  upon  the 
platform  and  responded :  "  Brethren,  names,  like 
dreams,  often  go  by  contraries.  Your  president  is 
frosty  only  in  name,  etc.";  and  I  could  feel  it  all 
through  me  that  I  had  captured  the  club.  What 
gave  my  little  bon  mot  pow^r  was  that  their  president 
was  well  known  and  universally  beloved.  I  told  my 
story  of  California  easily,  and  I  was  so  kindly  greeted 
by  member  after  member,  as  the  club  broke  up,  that 
I  felt  that  there  was  an  open  door  before  me,  and  that 
very  shortly  I  could  return  to  my  home  and  to  the 
little  infant  church  that  was  waiting  for  me.  But 
when  I  rose  the  next  morning,  the  papers  were  black 
with  the  news  of  a  financial  disaster  w^hich  put  the 
whole  East  in  peril.  The  great  banking  firm  of  Jay 
Cooke  &  Co.,  and  with  this  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railway,  had  collapsed.  As  a  friend  told  me  the  next 
morning,  "  We  are,  all  of  us,  standing  like  a  row  of 
bricks  on  end;  if  all  can  stand  together  we  are  safe; 
if  one  topples,  the  whole  will  go."  And  there  was 
nothing  for  me  to  do  but  wait.  Some  would  have 
said,  *'  Go  home  and  come  again  at  a  better  time." 
But  I  had  met  that  temptation  time  and  again,  and  had 
my  answer  ready,  "  I  will  stay  till  this  work  is  done, 
if  it  keeps  me  here  my  life  long."  At  last  my  way 
was  cleared,  I  could  collect  my  subscriptions,  both  in 
the  East  and  in  California,  and  begin  again  the  dear- 
est service  life  affords  on  earth  —  the  service  of  a 
pastor. 

But  when  these  subscriptions  had  been  collected, 
the  institution  was  not  founded.  I  had  remitted  a 
very  large  amount  that  had  been  paid  to  me  in  sums 


122  Gospel  Pioneering 

large  or  small,  and  it  had  been  used,  partly  in  the 
purchase  of  additional  property,  and  afterwards  some 
$12,000  was  used  in  erecting  an  additional  building 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  students  in  theology,  so 
that  the  larger  building  could  be  given  exclusively  to 
the  academy,  in  the  belief  that  the  academy  would 
yield  so  large  an  income  as  would  make  this  invest- 
ment sound  and  remunerative.  Disappointed  in  this, 
we  found  the  unpaid  debt  beginning  to  grow  with 
interest  unpaid  and  current  expenses  still  exceeding 
income.  A  disaster  also  had  occurred,  which  rendered 
our  chief  investment  unprofitable,  and  if  I  correctly 
understood  the  case,  it  finally  became  a  dead  loss. 

At  length  we  reached  the  point  at  which  we  were 
compelled  to  ask  our  professors,  Drs.  Benton  and 
Mooar,  to  release  us  from  any  further  obligation  to 
pay  them  their  salaries.  We  knew  that  their  resig- 
nation would  mean  the  temporary  closing  of  the 
seminary,  and  in  the  end  the  failure  of  the  enterprise. 
But  we  knew  that  Dr.  Benton  had  private  resources 
well  earned  and  carefully  husbanded,  the  source  of 
which  we  of  the  early  days  could  easily  imagine.  We 
trusted  also  that  Dr.  Mooar  could  live  without  a 
salary,  though  how  this  came  about,  we  could  not 
have  told.  Time  proved  that  our  confidence  at  this 
point  was  not  misplaced,  but  this  does  not  diminish 
one  iota  from  the  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  these 
brave  brethren  who  stood  by  the  apparently  sinking 
ship,  doing  their  duty  as  diligently  as  ever  and  with- 
out a  whimper  of  complaining. 

I  cannot  forget  the  day  when  on  entering  the  office 
of  our  treasurer,   Mr.  James  M.   Haven,  he  said  to 


The  Pacific  Theological  Seminary     123 

me,  "  Don't  you  think  that  the  time  has  come  for  us 
to  sell  our  property  and  pay  our  debts?"  My  reply 
was,  "  Not  as  long  as  assets  clearly  exceed  liabilities," 
but  with  a  fear  in  my  heart  that  this  could  not  mean 
a  long  delay. 

And  here  again  my  heart  forbids  me  to  go  on  with- 
out paying  a  tribute  of  affection  and  respect  to  one  of 
the  noblest  Christian  laymen  California  has  ever 
known.  He  was  a  gift  to  all  the  churches  from  our 
little  mountain  church  in  Downieville.  Having  en- 
tered there  upon  the  practice  of  law,  he  removed  at 
length  to  San  Francisco,  and  having,  even  though 
residing  at  a  point  so  distant  from  the  center,  been 
elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  the  very 
inception  of  our  work,  he  not  only  continued  in  it 
till  called  to  service  higher  yet  in  heaven,  but  he  was 
its  attorney  and  its  treasurer  for  more  than  thirty 
years.  His  professional  services  given  freely  to  our 
churches  in  Central  California  were  equivalent,  I 
suppose,  (though  of  course  it  is  only  a  personal  esti- 
mate made  from  a  very  partial  knowledge  of  his  do- 
ings) if  appraised  at  usual  prices,  to  more  than 
$25,000.  I  found  one  day,  upon  his  table,  papers 
which  showed  that  he  was  the  attorney  of  one  of  the 
most  prominent  of  the  British  firms  in  San  Francisco. 
The  head  of  that  firm  was  a  warm  personal  friend 
to  me,  and  when  I  congratulated  him  on  his  choice 
of  an  attorney,  he  replied,  "  We  were  on  the  point  of 
importing  from  England  an  attorney  whom  we  could 
trust.     We  found  Mr.  Haven,  and  we  are  satisfied." 

Man's  necessity  is  God's  opportunity,  —  it  is  an 
old  adage  and  a  good  and  true  one.     God  opened  our 


124  Gospel  Pioneering 

way  to  improve  that  desperate  opportunity,  by  causing 
Dr.  Dwinell  one  day  to  be  coming  from  Sacramento 
with  Moses  Hopkins,  a  brother  and  heir  of  Mark 
Hopkins,  one  of  the  "  Big  Four," — Stanford,  Crocker, 
Huntington  and  Hopkins  —  w^ho  built  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad.  The  death  of  the  magnate  had 
made  his  brother  a  millionaire.  Somehow  the  way 
was  opened  for  Dr.  Dwinell  to  tell  him  about  our 
institution  and  especially  about  the  academy. 

He  became  so  much  interested  that  he  promised  to 
give  us  $50,000,'  provided  we  met  his  gift  with  an 
equal  amount.  Dr.  Dwinell  made  haste  to  bring  the 
good  news  to  our  board.  We  found  that  some  other 
conditions  had  been  added  to  that  first  stated,  and 
that  they  were  such  as  could  not  be  fulfilled,  and 
Drs.  Benton  and  Dwinell  w^ere  sent  to  him  to  secure 
a  withdrawal  of  these,  so  that  we  could  put  the  mat- 
ter to  our  friends  and  our  churches  squarely;  $50,000 
for  $50,000.  Meanwhile  the  rest  of  the  Board  con- 
tinued in  prayer  that  our  request  might  be  granted. 
It  was;  and  we  fell  at  once  to  the  task  of  fulfilling 
the  condition.  The  amount  was  divided  among  us. 
Dr.  Benton  taking  the  heaviest  load.  I  remember 
that  my  portion  w^as  $2,000,  and  thanks  to  Mrs.  A. 
J.  Stiles  who  had  been  in  other  matters  my  great 
helper,  I  was  able  almost  at  once  to  bring  in  a  pledge 
for  my  share.  But  some  were  less  fortunate.  Dr. 
Benton's  load  was  too  heavy  for  him.  Thirteen 
thousand  dollars  must  be  found,  and  we  seemed  to 
have  reached  the  end  of  our  line. 

I  can  never  forget  the  sensations  which  crept  over 
me  as  I  sat  in  the  Board  at  its  oft-repeated  meetings. 


The  Pacific  Theological  Seminary     125 

Those  of  you  who,  in  New  England,  have  seen  the 
black  cloud  of  an  approaching  thunder-storm  rolling 
up  over  the  sky,  and  have  felt  the  attendant  quiver 
in  your  hearts  and  frames,  can  know  how  I  sat  there, 
dreading  what,  without  a  word  said,  I  seemed  to 
know  w^as  coming.  And  it  came  at  last.  "  Brother 
Pond  must  go  out;  we  will  take  care  of  his  services 
and  see  that  the  young  church  suffers  no  loss;"  and  I 
could  not  say  no,  though  the  darkness  into  which  I 
was  entering  was  absolute.  I  asked  them  to  adjourn 
to  meet  shortly  again  and  I  would  consult  with  my 
church  and  give  my  answer.  It  w^as  a  rather  harsh 
one,  but  one  which  previous  experience  made  me  feel 
to  be  necessary  if  I  was  at  all  to  succeed.  I  said, 
"While  this  is  going  on,  I  must  be  Czar;  nothing 
financial  must  be  undertaken  without  my  consent; 
I  must  have  your  full  co-operation,  and  if  I  need  your 
companionship  in  appealing  to  any  one,  you  must  give 
it  to  me ;  moreover  I  must  be  at  liberty  to  confess  our 
faults  in  the  past  and  as  your  agent  to  say  ever^'where 
that  if,  after  this  effort  is  successful,  a  note  of  this 
corporation  is  given  for  even  so  much  as  twenty-five 
cents,  the  subscribers  may  come  back  upon  us  and 
collect  their  subscriptions." 

And  this  pledge  w^as  given.  I  do  not  quite  under- 
stand even  to  this  day  the  blessing  that  followed.  The 
cloud  broke  into  clear  sunshine.  I  was  cordially  re- 
ceived everyw^here.  I  began  as  before,  with  subscrip- 
tion cards,  and  at  the  church  close  to  the  seminary. 
The  response  of  $700  from  a  company  so  small  and 
a  church  so  young,  surprised  and  cheered  me.  Then 
I  began  to  ask  the  churches  as  such  to  subscribe  with 


126  Gospel  Pioneering 

the  understanding  that  their  subscriptions  would  go 
into  the  endowment  fund  and  as  long  as  six  per  cent 
interest  was  paid  upon  them,  the  principal  might  re- 
main intact,  and  notes  were  drawn  and  signed  stating 
clearly  this  obligation.  It  proved  to  be  a  substantial 
endowment.  I  believe  that  not  even  one  church  has 
defaulted  in  the  interest,  while  all  but  two  have  paid 
the  principal.  The  successes  were  weekly  chronicled 
in  a  rather  stirring  article  in  "  The  Pacific,"  and  the 
enthusiasm  became  widespread.  The  $13,000  was 
raised.  But  then  it  was  discovered  that  $5,000  which 
had  been  subscribed  before  for  scholarships  ought  not 
to  be  counted  as  a  part  of  our  $50,000,  as  indeed  it 
ought  not,  and  thus  the  amount  came  to  $18,000,  and 
when  this  was  reached,  other  assets  were  thrown  out 
as  not  proper  to  be  counted  in  this  particular  effort. 
So  that  at  length  the  amount  became  $23,000,  and 
was  raised.  The  privilege  was  accorded  to  me  of 
calling  upon  Mr.  Hopkkins  and  showing  him  that  the 
condition  was  fulfilled,  and  of  receiving  from  him  in 
cash  and  a  good  note  the  $50,000  which  he  had  prom- 
ised. All  debts  were  paid.  The  endowments  were  re- 
established, and  our  patient  professors  began  again  to 
receive  their  salaries.  —  which,  however,  in  view  of 
the  pledge  that  no  debts  should  be  incurred,  were  to 
be  the  income  from  the  respective  endowments, 
whether  more  or  less.  The  academy  was  also  placed 
upon  a  more  safe  financial  basis,  and  was  afterwards 
sold,  if  my  memor}^  serves  me  well,  for  about  $50,000. 
And  here  my  story  ends.  I  am  glad  and  grateful 
to  know  that  what  I  raised  with  no  little  toil  and 
trouble   sinks   into   comparative    insignificance   as   seen 


The   Pacific  Theological   Seminary     127 

side  by  side  with  what  has  come  since  in  large  gifts 
running  up  into  the  tens  of  thousands  from  wealthy 
friends  in  response  to  the  appeals  of  others,  till  now 
the  assets  exceed  $800,000,  and  the  future  of  the  be- 
loved seminary  seems  to  be  clear  of  all  financial  peril. 
"  Unto  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,"  but,  thank  God, 
we  were  delivered  from  the  sequel  of  that  text,  for 
from  that  which  had  not  there  was  not  taken  that 
which  it  had. 


128  Gospel  Pioneering 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  ORIENTALS  IN  CALIFORNIA 

I  DO  not  know  how  early  the  immigration  of  Chi- 
nese to  California  began.  They  were  here  when  I 
arrived.  My  route  from  the  city's  center  to  my  home 
took  me  through  an  incipient  Chinatown.  I  looked 
in  at  the  windows  when  walking  through  in  the 
evening,  to  see  in  the  bowls  of  oil,  on  which  corks 
perforated  with  little  wicks  were  floating,  the  lamps 
of  Bible  times.  Missionary  work  among  them  had 
already  begun.  Rev.  William  Speer,  compelled  by 
ill  health  to  return  from  his  field  in  South  China,  was 
serving  under  the  Presbyterian  Board,  and  Rev.  S.  V. 
Blakeslee,  commissioned  by  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  had  gathered  a  small  class  whom  he  hoped 
to  reach  with  Christian  influences  through  teaching 
them  the  English  language.  Few  men  have  left  upon 
my  memory  so  fair  a  picture  of  an  ideal  Christian  as 
did  Mr.  Speer.  Evidently  strong  and  well  trained 
intellectually,  courteous,  witty,  companionable,  but 
unflinching  in  his  loyalty  to  truth  and  right  and 
Christ,  he  was  honored  by  us  all  and  seemed  easily 
to  procure  the  means  for  erecting  on  the  corner  of 
Stockton  and  Sacramento  Streets  a  substantial  and 
quite  roomy  mission  house.  I  think  that  he  followed 
the  methods  to  which  he  had  become  accustomed  in 
China,  —  methods  which  presupposed  in  the  worker 
quite  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage ;  and  I  remember  well  looking  at  him  and  think- 


The  Orientals  in  California  129 

ing  of  him  with  a  sort  of  brotherly  envy  because  he 
was  thus  provided.  Mr.  Blakeslee,  on  the  other  hand, 
wrought  without  that  advantage,  undertaking  in  a 
small  way  what  has  led  to  our  largest  successes  in 
leading  Orientals  to  Christ.  But  unfortunately  he 
had  invented  a  sort  of  phonetic  English  which  he  was 
sure  would  be  a  real  royal  road  for  a  Chinese  to  a 
knowledge  of  our  language,  and  he  clung  to  this  with 
too  much  tenacity,  so  that  his  few  pupils,  eager  to 
learn  the  language  as  it  is,  rather  than  as  it  ought  to 
be,  soon  forsook  him,  —  for  which  we  have  reason 
to  thank  them,  since  it  brought  him  to  our  help  in 
sustaining  "  The  Pacific,"  where,  as  I  have  said  in  a 
previous  chapter,  his  service  was  such  as  no  other  man 
among  us  could  have  discharged. 

It  seems  strange  to  me  now  that  more  than  ten 
5^ears  should  have  elapsed  before  this  idea  which  Mr. 
Blakeslee  conceived  came  to  be  recognized  by  Chris- 
tians generally.  I  remember  distinctly  the  real  sad- 
ness with  which  I  used  to  pass  by  the  Chinese  quarter 
in  Downieville,  almost  swarming  with  them,  and  felt 
so  utterly  helpless  as  to  letting  in  upon  their  darkness 
the  light  of  Christ,  "  Close  by  me,"  I  often  said  in 
substance  to  myself,  "  yet  as  far  off  practically  as 
though  they  were  in  China,  —  souls  for  whom  Christ 
died!" 

At  length,  in  1867  or  thereabouts,  Rev.  Otis  Gib- 
son, a  returned  missionary  from  China,  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  and  found  himself 
no  better  off,  through  his  knowledge  of  the  Chinese 
language,  than  we  who  knew  it  not  at  all,  because  he 
did    not   come    from    South    China,    the    region    from 


130  Gospel  Pioneering 

which  our  Chinese  came,  and  could  neither  speak  nor 
understand  the  dialect  spoken  here.  And  he  saw  the 
way  open  which  we  had  failed  to  see.  His  proposal 
to  organize  Chinese  Sunday  Schools,  and  after  that, 
Chinese  evening  schools,  at  which  Chinese  could  learn 
English,  was  so  presented  as  to  call  forth  an  immediate 
response.  Indeed  these  Sunday  schools  became  a  real 
fad.  The  one  conducted  by  young  people  in  the  First 
Congregational  Church  (then  located  at  California 
and  Dupont  Streets,  close  by  Chinatown),  was  so 
large  as  to  need  to  be  held  in  the  auditorium,  and  be- 
came one  of  the  spectacles  to  be  shown  to  tourists, 
and  thus  was  known  and  written  about  East  as  well 
as  West.  The  Third  Church,  of  which  I  became 
pastor  in  1868,  had  already,  I  think,  established  such 
a  school.  There  was  a  large  woolen  mill  at  no  great 
distance  from  us  on  one  side,  and  large  shoe  factories 
on  the  other  side,  each  employing  many  Chinese,  so 
that  our  school  was  as  large  as  we  could  well  accom- 
modate in  our  audience  room  or  could  provide  teachers 
for  at  the  rate  of  a  teacher  for  each  pupil.  It  was  an 
inspiring  sight.  As  it  was  held  immediately  before 
the  evening  service,  I  could  take  no  active  part  in  it, 
and  was  proud  of  my  church  which  could  do  so  large 
and  good  a  work  without  me. 

At  length  the  American  Missionary  Association 
turned  its  face  this  way  again.  Gen.  C.  H.  Howard, 
a  brother  of  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  w^ho  was  the  Dis- 
trict Secretary  of  the  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion at  Chicago,  visited  San  Francisco  to  enquire 
whether  there  was  room  for  Congregational  work 
among  the  Chinese,  and  if  so,  whether  we  desired  it 


The  Orientals  in  California  131 

to  be  undertaken.  Sufficient  encouragement  was>  giv- 
en, and  Rev.  John  Kimball  was  appointed  superin- 
tendent, and  very  soon  evening  schools  were  started  in 
Sacramento,  Oakland,  Santa  Cruz  and  Los  Angeles. 
At  length  Mr.  Kimball  called  upon  me  to  inquire 
whether  an  evening  school  might  not  make  our  Chi- 
nese Sunday  school  more  useful.  I  welcomed  the  idea, 
and  my  people  all  seemed  equally  to  welcome  it.  I 
nominated  a  young  lady  as  teacher  who  had  recently 
united  with  the  church  on  confession,  and  who  proved 
to  be  the  right  person  in  the  right  place.  I  had  no 
expectation  of  immediate  results.  I  had  heard  for  so 
many  years  of  the  very  slow  progress  and  the  very 
little  fruit  in  the  work  in  China  that  I  supposed  that 
it  would  take  two  or  three  years  before  Chinese  con- 
servatism could  be  overcome  and  conversions  reward 
our  labor.  My  surprise  therefore  was  great  when 
after  not  more,  I  am  sure,  than  three  months,  our 
teacher  came  to  me  and  said  that  eight  of  her  pupils 
seemed  to  have  given  themselves  to  Christ,  and  that 
they  desired  to  be  baptized  and  received  to  the  church. 
I  proposed,  however,  to  converse  with  them  one  by 
one,  and  in  the  case  of  the  first  one  sent  me,  did  not 
call  for  an  interpreter.  The  conversation  was  far  from 
satisfactor}^  to  me.  The  man  seemed  to  have  no  con- 
viction of  sin  at  all  and  consequently  no  conscious  need 
of  a  Saviour.  I  reported  this  to  the  teacher  and  she 
replied,  "  I  have  learned  a  lesson."  But  by  this  time 
Jee  Gam  had  been  called  into  the  work  and  declared 
that  the  candidate  had  misunderstood  my  questions 
and  had  failed  to  make  his  own  meaning  plain  to  me. 
But  this  man   left   for  China  before  our  preliminary 


132  Gospel  Pioneering 

examinations  were  completed,  and  when  he  returned, 
his  interest  in  Christ,  or  desire  to  be  a  Christian,  had 
died  out  completely.  Assisted  by  Jee  Gam,  my  con- 
versations with  the  other  seven  were  surprisingly 
satisfactory,  and  when  I  went  to  the  homes  where 
some  of  them  were  employed,  I  found  that  their  con- 
duct was  as  becometh  believers.  By  two  of  the  ladies 
to  whom  I  appealed  the  testimony  w^as  expressed  in 
identical  words:  "  If  Jee  Lee  is  not  a  Christian,  there 
are  no  Christians."  "  If  Chin  Sing  is  not  a  Christian, 
there  are  no  Christians."  Distrusting  still  my  own 
impressions,  I  requested  Rev.  Dr.  Loomis,  the  Super- 
intendent of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  to  come  and 
converse  with  them,  with  full  liberty,  if  he  should 
judge  them  to  be  intelligent  and  sincere  in  their  pro- 
fession, to  invite  them  to  unite  with  his  own  Chinese 
church ;  and  he  kindly  came  over  to  our  church  to  see 
them.  Of  course  I  knew  nothing  of  what  had  passed 
between  him  and  them,  the  conversation  being  in  Chi- 
nese, but  Jee  Gam  told  me  that  he  cordially  invited 
them  to  unite  with  his  church,  and  that  they  replied, 
''Your  church  is  nearly  three  miles  away;  we  were 
converted  in  this  church,  we  love  our  teachers,  we 
would  like  to  be  baptized  and  received  here."  When 
I  heard  this,  I  saw  that  our  Saviour  was  committing 
these  souls  to  our  care,  and  that  we  ought  not  to  re- 
fuse the  responsibility.  I  had  no  apprehension  what- 
ever of  any  objection  being  raised  to  receiving  them, 
in  view  of  the  special  precautions  that  had  been  taken 
and  the  satisfactory^  conclusions  reached.  And  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  Standing  Committee  in  their 
favor  confirmed  me  in  this  view.     But   I  was  to  be 


The  Orientals  in  California  133 

disappointed.  By  a  very  large  majority  it  was  voted 
to  propound  and  admit  them,  but  in  deference  to  the 
minority  and  in  order  that  they  might  have,  as  was 
requested,  opportunity  to  enquire  for  themselves  as 
to  the  fitness  of  these  candidates,  the  matter  was  laid 
over  for  two  months.  It  is  strange,  but  true,  that 
during  those  two  months  not  one  of  the  objectors,  so 
far  as  I  could  learn,  went  near  a  single  one  of  these 
candidates  or  made  any  inquiry  about  them,  but  when 
the  period  of  probation  expired  they  were  armed, 
among  other  things,  with  a  statement  from  the  mission- 
ary whom  I  had  called  in,  to  the  effect  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  me  to  ascertain  whether  these  candi- 
dates were  sincere,  or  knew  what  they  were  doing. 
Whereupon  their  probation  was  extended  for  six- 
months  longer,  and  the  guns  were  turned  upon  the 
pastor  himself.  It  was  the  only  church  quarrel  in 
which  I  ever  had  a  part.  But  it  resulted,  without 
any  effort  on  my  part  at  self-defence,  in  such  an  up- 
rising of  public  sentiment  against  those  who  would 
forbid  men  of  a  particular  race,  as  such,  to  be  at  home 
in  a  church  of  Christ,  that  at  the  end  of  six  months, 
the  church  had  become  far  more  anxious  to  receive 
them  than  they  were  to  be  received.  For  as  soon  as 
it  was  thus  made  sure  to  me  that  what  I  saw  to  be 
a  vital  element  in  the  teachings  and  the  work  of  Christ, 
would  at  last  be  accepted  by  the  church  and  acted 
upon  without  discord,  I  wished  to  withdraw  from  the 
battle-field,  and  presented  my  resignation.  The  last 
ministerial  act  which  I  performed  in  the  church  was 
to  baptize  these  brethren  and  receive  them. 

I  trust  that  it  will  not  seem  egotistical  if  I  mention 


134  Gospel  Pioneering 

one  incident  in  connection  with  their  consent  to  be 
received  which  stands  in  somewhat  close  connection 
with  what  is  to  follow.  The  reception  took  place 
after  my  pastoral  relationship  to  the  church  was  dis- 
solved. The  Standing  Committee  had  caused  these 
brethren  to  be  gathered  together  in  order  to  be  advised 
that  they  would  be  welcomed  on  the  next  Sunday, 
but  found  them  unwilling  to  come.  The  church  had 
come  to  feel  itself  so  discredited  that  the  committee 
sent  for  me  to  endeavor  to  persuade  them  to  come. 
And  I  myself  was  disturbed  by  their  refusal.  When 
I  had  exhausted  my  persuasions,  one  of  them  said  to 
me,  "  But  you  will  not  be  our  pastor."  Quick  as  a 
flash  I  replied,  "  I  will  be  your  pastor,"  and  thereupon 
they  consented.  I  had  no  sooner  said  those  words 
than  the  thought  thrust  itself  in  upon  me,  "  How  can 
this  be?"  And  I  saw  no  way  in  which  my  promise 
could  be  fulfilled.  Yet  I  could  not  withdraw  it. 
Somehow^  this  was  impossible.  And  I  rested  in  the 
assurance  that  the  Spirit  of  God  spoke  through  me 
and  He  would  make  the  apparently  impossible  come 
to  pass.     And  it  did  come  to  pass. 

Having  been  duly  installed  as  pastor,  by  a  council, 
a  second  one  was  called  to  advise  the  church  as  to  the 
acceptance  of  my  resignation,  and  at  my  earnest  re- 
quest they  advised  this.  While  a  day  or  two  later  I 
was  in  my  study  boxing  my  library,  a  brother  who  had 
spoken  for  me  \try  effectively  before  the  Council, 
called  and  asked  me  to  ride  with  him.  Upon  my  con- 
senting, he  took  me  to  a  point  from  which  I  could 
overlook  a  new  district  of  the  city,  and  asked  if  it 
was  not  a  hopeful  place  for  a  mission  Sunday  school. 


The  Orientals  in  California  135 

I  was  able  to  tell  him  that  I  had  already  noted  this, 
hoping  that  the  time  would  soon  come  when  we  could 
propose  to  our  church  to  establish  such  a  school. 
"  We  will  start  one  then,"  he  said,  and  in  two  weeks 
it  held  its  first  session.  A  small  room  was  rented 
which  soon  overflowed,  so  that  the  primary  depart- 
ment was  held  under  the  open  sky  in  the  back  yard. 
One  day  w^iile  engaged  in  some  service  in  my  own 
yard,  my  mind  was  running  on  those  words  concern- 
ing Mary  of  Bethany,  "  Who  also  sat  at  Jesus'  feet 
and  heard  his  word."  "  What  a  perfect  motto  for  a 
Sunday  school!"  I  exclaimed,  and  then,  "What  a 
beautiful  name  to  go  with  it  is  Bethany!"  Able  to 
visit  the  Sunday  school  the  next  Sunday,  I  spoke  of 
this  to  the  teachers  and  pupils,  and  with  much  en- 
thusiasm both  motto  and  name  were  adopted.  I  had 
already  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Pacific  Theological  Seminary  to  become  its  Financial 
Agent,  so  that  I  could  see  little  of  this  work,  but  it 
soon  appeared  that  larger  quarters  must  be  had. 
There  was  very  little  wealth  at  command,  but  enough 
so  that  by  very  generous  giving  a  chapel  was  erected 
on  a  leased  lot,  and  Bethany  Sunday  School  moved 
into  it,  and  soon  flooded  its  new  quarters. 

All  this  had  taken  place  through  the  cooperation  of 
about  thirty  members  of  the  church  of  which  I  had  been 
pastor,  —  members  who  had  fully  decided  to  leave 
that  church,  and  most  of  whom  lived  in  this  new 
neighborhood,  fully  one  and  a  quarter  miles  from  their 
former  house  of  worship,  a  distance  believed  to  be 
large  enough  to  prevent  competition.  They  had  ex- 
pected to  scatter,  but  there  was  no  church  near  them 


136  Gospel  Pioneering 

with  which  they  chose  to  unite.  It  is  not  strange 
that  the  question  soon  arose  whether  they  might  not 
establish  a  church,  and  this  was  done  on  February 
23rd,  1873,  on  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  my  land- 
ing in  San  Francisco,  —  a  coincidence  unsought  and  at 
the  time  not  even  recognized,  but  which  has  since  then 
often  recurred  to  my  memory  and  blessed  me. 
Thirty-two  of  us  joined  hands  in  the  prayer  of  conse- 
cration and  of  fellowship  in  Christ. 

After  this,  my  service  to  the  Seminary  absorbed  my 
time  and  strength  for  a  solid  year.  An  account  of 
this  may  be  found  in  the  chapter  concerning  the  Semi- 
nary. It  seems  to  me  remarkable  that  that  infant 
church,  undertaking  no  public  worship  except  the  Sun- 
day School  and  the  mid-week  meeting,  held  together 
for  twelve  months  without  a  single  deserter,  till,  my 
task  completed,  I  was  able  to  return  to  them,  my 
pastorate  beginning  with  March  1st,  1874. 

The  pertinency  of  all  this  to  the  subject  of  this 
chapter  will  now  appear.  As  I  journeyed  Eastward 
to  prosecute  my  canvass  in  New  England,  I  became 
possessed  with  the  idea  that  the  American  Missionary 
Association  was  considering  an  abandonment  of  its 
work  for  the  Chinese  in  California.  I  hardly  know 
why  my  mind  dwelt  on  this  idea  so  much  and  with 
such  real  power,  but  I  determined  that  when  I 
reached  New  York  I  would  call  at  the  oflfice  and  find 
out  whether  my  impression  represented  a  real  fact. 
I  found  that  it  did,  and  I  presented,  with  all  the  em- 
phasis I  could  command,  the  reasons  for  its  contin- 
uance, —  not  as  a  competitor  with  missions  already 
existing,   but   as  occupjang  fields   unoccupied.     There 


The  Orientals  in  California  137 

were  many  of  these  in  the  smaller  cities  where  col- 
onies of  Chinese  numbering  from  (say)  150  to  1,500 
could  be  found  with  no  one  caring  for  their  souls. 

Several  months  after  this,  I  found  myself,  as  I  ap- 
proached the  end  of  a  week,  destitute  of  any  appoint- 
ment for  the  coming  Sunday.  A  very  dear  friend, 
Rev.  B.  N.  Seymour,  who  had  been  my  nearest  min- 
isterial neighbor  when  I  was  pastor  in  Downieville, 
was  now  pastor  in  a  church  not  far  from  Boston,  and 
I  wrote  him  that  I  was  coming  to  him  for  a  rest.  He 
met  me  at  the  railroad  station,  and  with  a  little  em- 
barrassment said  that  he  was  not  to  be  in  his  own 
pulpit  on  the  morrow,  and  that  Rev.  Mr,  Woodworth, 
District  Secretary  of  the  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation, was  to  preach,  and  he  himself  had  promised 
to  preach  elsewhere.  "  Oh  well,"  I  replied,  "  I  will 
go  with  5^ou;  I  want  to  hear  you."  With  still  more 
embarrassment  he  said,  *'  We  have  but  one  extra  bed, 
and  I  have  invited  Mr.  Woodworth  to  occupy  it. 
Could  you  sleep  with  him?"  "If  he  is  willing  to 
sleep  with  me,"  I  said,  "  I  will  promise  not  to  trouble 
him."  And  so  it  was  arranged,  and  so  it  came  to 
pass.  Mr.  Woodworth  had  doubtless  heard  of  the 
conversation  with  a  secretary  in  New  York,  and  we 
had  scarcely  settled  ourselves  in  bed  when  he  began 
to  pump  me  on  the  subject  of  their  mission  among  the 
Chinese.  And  he  did  not  need  to  pump  hard,  for  I 
was  brim  full  of  it  myself.  He  said  that  the  work 
had  been  started  at  his  earnest  instigation  and  he 
could  not  bear  its  being  abandoned.  It  was  well  on 
in  the  small  hours  before  we  slept,  but  his  concluding 
words  were,   "  Brother  Pond,  you  must  take  up   the 


138  Gospel  Pioneering 

work  when  you  return."  And  I  frankly  told  him 
that  I  would  like  to  do  so,  for  I  saw  in  it  ^possibilities 
which  were  very  inviting.  In  consequence  of  this  I 
was  invited  to  speak  of  these  possibilities  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Association  in  Newark,  which  I  did. 

At  length  my  hard  job  was  fulfilled  and  I  started 
for  home.  I  spent  but  two  days  in  New  York,  on  one 
of  which  I  called  again  at  the  office  of  the  American 
Missionary  Association.  I  was  cordially  welcomed 
and  I  had  hardly  got  quietly  seated  when  the  Secre- 
tary said  to  me,  "  We  want  you  to  superintend  our 
work  for  the  Chinese  in  California,  but  Mr.  Kimball, 
though  he  is  somewhere  on  this  side  the  Rockies  and 
cannot  attend  to  the  work,  yet  has  forgotten  to  re- 
sign, and  we  do  not  like  to  discharge  him."  I  replied 
that  I  would  like  to  make  the  attempt  to  bring  to  pass 
what  I  had  pictured  as  being  possible,  and  that  when- 
ever he  should  hear  from  Mr.  Kimball  he  might  write 
to  me.  The  office  was  then  on  Reade  Street  just  below 
Broadway.  I  went  up  to  Broadway  and  turned  down 
that  street  to  get  a  look  at  the  then  famous  hostelry, 
the  Astor  House,  and  there,  coming  down  the  steps, 
was  Mr.  Kimball.  The  cordial  greeting  was  scarcely 
completed  before  he  said  to  me,  "  Brother  Pond,  I  am 
here  in  the  East  and  cannot  return  for  a  good  while, 
and  3'ou  ought  to  take  my  place  as  Superintendent  of 
the  work  for  the  Chinese."  I  replied,  "  If  you  think 
so,  it  can  be  arranged  in  less  than  twenty  minutes," 
and  we  walked  around  to  the  office.  He  wrote  his 
resignation  and  withdrew.  The  few  details  needing 
to  be  settled  were  arranged,  and  the  next  morning 
I    started   for   home,   and   two   days   after   I   reached 


The  Orientals  in  California  i39 

home,  my  commission  arrived,  and  the  promise  which 
leaped  to  my  lips  in  talking  with  my  Chinese  brethren, 
began  to  be  fulfilled. 

I  had  something  yet  to  do  in  collecting  the  sub- 
scriptions which  had  been  made,  conditioned  on  the 
full  amount  of  $35,ooo  being  subscribed,  and  while 
on  the  journeys  thus  made  necessary,  I  visited  several 
missions  already  in  existence,  —  at  Sacramento,  Santa 
Cruz,  Oakland  and  Los  Angeles,  and  started  one  m 
Santa  Barbara. 

Not  long  after  I  had  returned,  Jee  Gam  laid  before 
me  a  scheme  for  a  headquarters  in  San  Francisco,  close 
by  the  Chinese  Quarter,  which  would  afford  a  refuge 
for  our  brethren,  a  school  in  the  English  language,  a 
place  for  Sunday  services  and  a  "Theological  Sem- 
inary." This  last  seemed  to  me  rather  premature,  but 
the  rest  expressed  our  immediate  and  pressing  necessity, 
for  our  few  Chinese  brethren  were  indeed,  as  one  of 
them  said,  ''  like  orphans  without  a  home."  I  prom- 
ised to  write  about  it  to  the  office  in  New  York,  and 
if  the  plan  was  approved  there,  we  would  undertake 
to  carry  it  out. 

The  reply  was  a  hearty  approval.  I  think  that  I 
remember  the  words  in  which  it  was  expressed: 
"  This  is  just  what  we  have  always  wished  to  see 
done."  While  I  was  waiting  for  this  reply,  my  own 
appreciation  of  the  project  had  so  grown  upon  me 
that  I  was  eager  to  enter  upon  it.  So  a  building  was 
soon  found,  admirably  located,  which  with  some 
alterations  would  answer  our  purpose,  and  I  rented 
it  at  $75  per  month.  At  that  time  Congress  had  just 
passed  the  Exclusion  Law,  to  take  effect  six  months 


140  Gospel  Pioneering 

after  It  received  the  President's  signature.  During 
these  six  months,  the  immigration  of  Chinese  was 
almost  precisely  equal  to  the  whole  number  in  the 
United  States  when  the  bill  became  a  law.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  our  rooms  were  packed  by  the  new- 
comers eager  to  learn  the  English  language.  Teach- 
ers could  hardly  move  about  in  the  crowd.  As  many 
as  130  were  reported  in  attendance  for  several  months. 
This  called  for  a  large  number  of  teachers,  so  that 
the  expense  became  very  great.  Nothing  had  been 
said  to  me,  either  in  my  commission  or  in  any  other 
way,  about  a  definite  and  limited  appropriation  for 
this  work.  In  my  inexperience  in  such  matters,  I 
had  assumed  that  w^hatever  expense  was  unavoidable 
in  carrying  out  what  the  home  office  had  approved, 
would  be  supplied.  I  have  never  in  my  life  been 
more  startled  than  I  was  when  after  all  this  was 
moving  wtII,  I  received  a  letter  stating  that  the  ap- 
propriation for  this  work  was  $5,000  per  annum,  that 
it  was  nearly  exhausted  and  that  it  could  not  be  in- 
creased. What  could  I  do?  It  was  evident  that 
appeals  to  the  A.  M.  A.  would  be  in  vain.  On  the 
other  hand,  retreat  meant  such  disappointment  and 
disaster  as  would  wreck  our  whole  work.  I  had  not 
expected  to  have  anything  to  do  with  raising  funds. 
My  part  was  to  be  simply  to  use  as  carefully  and  use- 
fully as  possible  funds  supplied  from  the  East.  And 
I  was  already  overloaded  with  tasks  of  that  sort  in 
connection  with  the  Seminary  and  our  infant  Bethany 
Church. 

At  length  an  appeal  to  the  Lord  Jesus  brought  me 
courage,  and  I  said,  "  If  I  have  to  raise  $1,200  in  sub- 


The  Orientals  in  California  141 

scriptions  of  five  and  ten  dollars,  I  will  raise  it 
somehow."  And  God  answ^ered  my  prayer,  leading 
me  to  success  by  a  way  that  I  knew  not. 

Our  general  Association  for  that  year,  1874,  was 
held  with  the  First  Church  in  Oakland,  and  Mrs. 
Pond  and  I  were  assigned  as  guests  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wedderspoon,  English  people  of  wealth,  for  reasons 
highly  complimentary  to  my  wife,  but  such  as  made  us 
go  to  them  with  some  bashful  timidity.  But  never  were 
we  more  happily  disappointed.  Friendship  sprang  up 
almost  instantly.  And  my  work  for  the  Chinese  was 
made  by  them  to  be  an  almost  absorbing  topic  of  con- 
versation. Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  when  I  began 
to  plan  for  my  campaign,  I  determined  to  go  to  Mr. 
Wedderspoon  first.  *'  Possibly,"  I  said  to  myself, 
"  his  firm  will  subscribe  $100."  So  I  wrote  him  a 
rather  long  letter  stating  the  case,  and  handing  it  to 
him  in  his  office,  asked  him  to  read  it  at  his  leisure  at 
home,  and  said  that  I  would  call  for  his  answer  the 
next  day.  I  did  this,  and  was  received  most  cordially. 
"  And  how  much  did  you  say  you  would  need  ? " 
"  Fifteen  hundred  dollars,"  I  replied.  "  Oh,  w^e  will 
get  that.  Get  a  little  better  subscription  book  and  I 
will  go  out  with  you."  Now  the  firm  of  which  he 
was  the  resident  partner  had  in  charge  large  operations 
in  the  interior  and  were  consequently  great  buyers  of 
all  sorts  of  merchandise  from  mining  machinery  to 
dry-goods.  I  purchased  and  prepared  a  quite  hand- 
some subscription  book,  and  after  putting  down  the 
name  of  his  firm  for  $100,  he  went  with  me.  A  tap 
of  his  hand  on  a  man's  shoulder  seemed  sufficient  to 
call  forth  a  subscription,  —  one  other  of  $100,  a  goodly 


142  Gospel  Pioneering 

number  at  $50  and  still  more  at  $25,  till,  in  one 
afternoon,  if  I  remember  correctly,  the  whole  amount 
needed  was  subscribed  and  most  of  it  deposited  in 
bank. 

The  momentum  of  this  effort  enabled  me  for  sev- 
eral years,  in  spite  of  an  intense  and  growing  hostility 
to  the  Chinese,  to  gather  a  very  helpful  amount  from 
San  Francisco  merchants  for  our  Mission.  From  that 
time  also  our  financial  operations  were  grounded  in 
faith  that  the  Lord  would  provide.  After  receiving 
notice  from  the  American  Missionary  Association  as 
to  the  amount  of  their  appropriation  for  a  coming 
5^ear,  I  never  asked  that  it  be  increased.  Believing  in 
the  leadership  of  Christ  and  that  if  one  asks  for  that 
leadership  he  will  have  it  and  have  it  made  clear  to 
him,  we  entered  doors  which  Christ  opened,  and  oc- 
cupied any  new  field  to  which  He  called  us.  And 
though  after  the  appropriation  was  exhausted  and  we 
had  to  meet  the  bills  of  nearly  six  months  by  our  own 
efforts,  though  this  seemed  to  be  utterly  impossible, 
still  month  by  month  all  bills  were  punctually  met, 
and  when  we  closed  our  books  for  the  fiscal  year, 
there  was  always  except  in  two  instances  a  small  bal- 
ance on  hand.  In  one  of  these  cases  the  deficit  was 
$6.00,  in  the  other  it  was  $30.00,  the  result  of  the 
forwarding  by  mistake  to  New  York  for  the  general 
work  of  the  American  Missionary  Association,  of 
precisely  that  amount  which  was  really  intended  as  a 
special  for  us.  Thus  year  by  year  the  Master's  prom- 
ise was  fulfilled.  The  mountain  was  "  taken  up  and 
cast  into  the  sea." 

The  saving  grace  of  God  has  attended  our  lowly 


The  Orientals  in  California  143 

work  from  its  beginning  until  now.  Our  workers 
sent  me  month  by  month  detailed  reports,  and  accord- 
ing to  my  recollection  there  was  never  a  month  in 
which  no  one  of  them  could  speak  of  a  soul  saved. 
At  no  time  did  these  reports  indicate  what  might  be 
called  a  flood-tide  of  the  Spirit,  but  a  quiet  stream  was 
flowing  all  the  while. 

First  and  last  we  have  had  forty-nine  missions. 
Not  even  one-half  of  these  became  permanent.  We 
never  had  at  one  time  more  than  twenty-three  mis- 
sions. But  those  that  were  planted  and  lived  only 
a  year  or  two,  were  not  fruitless.  Of  but  one  do  I 
think  as  a  failure.  One  was  discontinued  because  the 
mob  drove  all  the  Chinese  from  the  town ;  some  be- 
cause the  business  which  gathered  Chinese  in  that 
locality  was  discontinued ;  some  because  through  lack 
of  funds  we  were  compelled  to  let  them  die  in  order 
that  those  with  brighter  prospects  might  continue.  It 
is  impossible  for  us  to  know  how  many  souls  were  led 
out  of  darkness  into  light.  The  Good  Shepherd 
knows  them  all.  But  I  am  safe  and  quite  within 
bounds  in  saying  that  there  have  been  reported  to  me 
more  than  3,500.  Nomadic  as  they  are,  —  as  indeed 
all  men  are  who  are  without  families  or  homes  — 
these  have  been  scattered  in  our  land  from  Alaska 
to  Florida;  a  little  army  of  them  have  returned  to 
their  native  land,  and  many  have  found  their  final 
home  in  their  Father's  House  on  high.  One  chief 
source  of  satisfaction  in  the  work  has  been  in  those 
who  have  returned  to  their  native  land,  self-trans- 
ported, self-supported  missionaries,  furnished  already 
with  the  language  as  their  very  mother-tongue,  know- 


144  Gospel  Pioneering 

ing  by  experience  how  much  better  is  the  living  and 
life-giving  Saviour  than  anything  which  their  old  cus- 
toms and  superstitions  could  afford,  their  simple  words 
of  testimony,  uttered  perhaps  in  the  ancestral  hall  to 
which  their  fellow  villagers  would  gather  to  hear  re- 
ports from  what  they  called  "  the  Land  of  the  Golden 
Mountain,"  were  attended  with  saving  power  in  some, 
even  when  they  encountered  in  others  an  intense  an- 
tagonism. 

At  length,  in  1885,  our  brethren,  in  order  to  make 
this  work  in  the  old  home  villages  more  efficient  and 
abiding,  organized  "  The  China  Congregational  Mis- 
sionary Society."  It  was  not  in  virtue  of  any  con- 
scious spurring  by  their  Superintendent,  but  of  their 
own  accord,  and  his  first  knowledge  of  it  came  to 
him  when  there  was  brought  to  him  a  translation  of 
their  Constitution  for  him  to  revise.  This  is  still  in 
vigorous  life,  cooperating  with  the  Mission  of  our 
American  Board  and  really  a  part  of  its  work,  but 
sustained  entirely  by  themselves.  For  many  years  Rev. 
C.  R.  Hager,  M.D.,  was  the  sole  missionary  of  the 
Board  in  South  China,  his  headquarters  at  Hong 
Kong,  where  a  large  mission  house  with  a  commodious 
chapel  was  erected,  in  which,  as  one  of  our  brethren 
wrote  me,  "  When  we  go  to  church  it  seems  as  though 
we  were  in  California  again,  so  many  of  the  people 
whom  we  see  were  once  with  us  there."  Twice  each 
year,  and  sometimes  oftener  when  special  occasions 
called  for  it,  Dr.  Hager  toured,  much  of  the  way  on 
foot,  from  village  to  village,  meeting  the  brethren, 
teaching  them,  and  baptizing  such  as  seemed  ready 
for  baptism.     I    remember  its   being  reported   to   me 


The  Orientals  in  California  145 

that  on  one  occasion,  in  one  village,  he  baptized  one 
hundred  in  one  day.  At  any  rate  several  years  ago,  I 
sav7  in  the  report  of  the  American  Board  the  South 
China  Mission,  with  its  one  or  at  most  two  mission- 
aries, credited  with  a  much  larger  number  of  com- 
municants than  any  other  mission,  —  a  fact  which  finds 
its  readiest  explanation  in  the  number  and  zeal  of 
Chinese  believers  returning  from  California  (mainly) 
and  becoming  w^itnesses  there,  through  the  power  of 
the  Spirit,  to  Him  whom  they  had  found  to  be  a  real 
Saviour. 

I  am  well  aware  that  in  these  reminiscences  con- 
cerning our  work  for  Orientals,  I  have  passed  quite 
beyond  what  we  now  account  as  the  Early  days  of 
Congregationalism  in  this  State.  Indeed,  the  begin- 
ning of  my  own  participation  in  it  occurred  subse- 
quently to  the  limit  which  I  had  set  for  myself  in 
this  respect.  Yet  it  seemed  that  my  stor}^  would  be 
sadly  incomplete  if  it  had  nothing  to  say  of  this  w^ork; 
and  having  begun  to  write  about  it,  there  was  found  no 
stopping-place  save  that  afforded  by  the  close  of  my 
official  relationship  to  it.  My  interest  in  it  can  never 
die,  and  my  cooperation  with  it,  so  far  as  opportunity  is 
afforded  me,  will  continue  as  long  as  life  and  strength 
remain. 


146  Gospel  Pioneering 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


BETHANY  CHURCH 


I  HAVE  spoken  of  the  way  in  which,  with  Christ 
for  our  Leader,  we  approached  step  by  step  toward 
the  organization  of  a  church.  I  have  been  hold  that  I 
ought  to  add  a  brief  sketch  of  its  history  on  to  the  time 
when  under  the  weakening  effects  of  advancing  age, 
I  was  constrained  to  choose  between  continuing  my 
pastorate  and  withdrawing  from  the  care  of  the 
missions,  or  resigning  the  one  in  order  to  continue  in 
the  other. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  it  would  be  easy  to  find  a 
pastor  who  would  do  better  work  with  the  church 
than  I  could,  but  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  one 
to  take  up  the  complicated  duties  involved  in  due  care 
of  the  missions  and  fulfil  them,  until  through  ex- 
perience quite  costly  he  had  learned  how  to  do  it.  Ac- 
cordingly I  presented  my  resignation  with  an  earnest 
request  that  it  be  accepted. 


The  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  the  church 
was  organized  were  such  that  we  did  not  at  once 
seek  its  formal  recognition  by  its  sister  churches.  We 
were  quite  sure  that  the  outlook  for  it,  as  this  ap- 
peared to  some  of  our  brethren,  who  had  seen  little 
if  anything  of  the  Master's  leadership  as  our  faith 
had  discerned  it,  would  be  clouded  by  various  doubts 
about  it.  For  the  same  reason  we  were  determined 
to  ask  no  aid  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  nor 


Bethany  Church  147 

make  in  any  other  way  an  appeal  for  cooperation  of 
any  sort  until  the  smoke  of  the  conflict  had  entirely 
cleared  away. 

It  became  necessary  for  our  members,  during  my 
canvass  for  the  Seminary,  to  be  content  with  only 
such  service  as  could  be  rendered  without  a  pastor, 
and  with  only  such  mutual  fellowship  as  could  be  had 
through  our  cheery  and  flourishing  Sunday  School  and 
our  midweek  meeting. 

It  was,  however,  expected  that  my  work  for  the 
Seminary  would  be  ended  in  a  few  months  —  six 
months  at  most  —  and  my  brethren  determined  to 
wait  for  me.  But  my  work  in  the  East,  which  in 
my  sanguine  inexperience  I  supposed  could  be  com- 
pleted in  four  months,  covered  no  less  than  nine;  and 
after  my  return  there  remained  the  collection  of  the 
conditional  subscriptions  made  in  California.  It  seems 
to  me  remarkable  and  a  fact  worth  commemorating 
that  this  infant  church  maintained  its  mutual  fellow- 
ship unimpaired  and  kept  up  in  full  vigor  all  that  it 
had  undertaken  through  a  whole  year. 

On  the  first  Sunday  morning  in  March,  1874,  its 
first  preaching  service  was  held  with  an  audience  num- 
bering forty-three.  I  accepted  the  invitation  which 
had  been  extended  to  me  to  serve  as  pastor  on  a  sal- 
ary of  seventy-five  dollars  a  month.  This,  with  the 
rent  of  our  lot  and  unavoidable  incidental  expenses, 
would  call  for  an  income  of  one  hundred  dollars  a 
month.  I  can  never  forget  the  impression  made  upon 
me  when  I  heard  that  this  amount  had  been  provided 
for;  that  ten  dollars  per  month  besides  plate  offerings 
at   every  service   had   been  pledged   by   six   or   seven 


148  Gospel  Pioneering 

young  men  whose  incomes  were  the  usual  salaries  of 
clerks  or  bookkeepers.  I  was  for  a  few  months  still 
in  receipt  of  a  small  salary  as  field  agent  of  the  Sem- 
inary, and  from  the  American  Missionary  Association 
fifty  dollars  a  month,  so  that  with  rigid  economy  I 
was  able  to  meet  my  household  expenses. 

This  pastorate  continued  for  thirty-two  years  in  un- 
broken and  blessed  harmony.  The  membership  rose 
to  about  four  hundred.  The  benevolent  contribu- 
tions in  one  of  those  years  amounted  to  three  thousand 
dollars.  For  twenty-five  years,  with  six  communion 
seasons  in  each  year,  there  was  not  even  one  without 
additions  on  confession.  It  was  stigmatized  as  a  Chi- 
nese church,  but  turned  this  reproach  into  a  blessing 
and  a  help.  At  length  its  membership  was  greatly  re- 
duced by  the  dismissal  of  199  members  who  were  to 
be  organized  as  the  Chinese  Congregational  Church 
of  San  Francisco.  Quite  a  number  were  also  dis- 
missed on  another  occasion  to  unite  with  other  be- 
lievers in  forming  the  Bethlehem  Congregational 
Church,  the  outgrowth  of  a  mission  Sunday  School 
maintained  by  us  in  a  churchless  region  about  one  mile 
west  of  Bethany. 

I  venture  to  give  an  account  of  that  first  sermon, 
the  inaugural  of  my  pastorate,  the  subject  of  which 
was 

"  Bethany  as  the  name  of  our  church :  To  what 
does  it  pledge  us?  " 

The  text  was  in  Luke  24:50:  "  He  led  them  out 
as  far  as  to  Bethany  and  He  lifted  up  His  hands  and 
blessed  them."     The  points  were  five: 

I.     Bethany  was  a  place   where   one   sat  at  Jesus' 


Bethany  Church  149 

feet  and  heard  His  word :  and  this  is  what  our  church 
must  be. 

2.  Bethany  was  a  place  where  the  dead  was  raised 
to  life:  and  this  is  what  our  church  should  be;  people 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sin  are  to  be  new-born  into  the 
Eternal  Life. 

3.  Bethany  was  evidently  a  home  for  Jesus  above 
any  other  village  in  the  land  —  His  home :  and  this 
is  what  our  church  must  be,  the  abiding  place  of  Jesus 

—  unseen  by  mortal  eyes,  but  according  to  His  promise 
with  us  every  day  even  to  the  fulfilment  of  redemp- 
tion. 

4.  Bethany  was  the  place  of  a  lavish  consecration, 
Mary  and  her  "  pound  of  ointment  of  pure  nard,  very 
precious  "  poured  upon  the  feet  of  Jesus,  filling  thus 
the  whole  house  with  its  rich  odor.  And  this  is  what 
should  characterize  our  service  as  members  of  this 
church:  gladsome  consecration  of  the  best  —  of  all  — 
of  what  we  have  or  are  to  Jesus;  this  spiritual  fra- 
grance filling  all  our  house. 

5.  Bethany  was  the  place  of  Jesus'  parting  bene- 
diction before  he  ascended  and  the  cloud  received  Him 

—  no  bank  of  fog,  but  the  ancient  Shekinah,  the  only 
visible  representative  of  God  allowed  on  earth  by  Him 
till  "  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us." 
And  this  benediction  comes  to  every  church  in  which 
God  finds  that  which  He  found  of  old  in  Bethany. 

I  think  that  I  may  be  pardoned  if  I  claim  that  of 
all  possible  names  for  a  church  of  Christ  Bethany  is 
the  most  significant  and  most  sacred. 

Our  little  cosy  chapel  had  been  built  upon  a  rented 
lot.     We  had  no  definite  lease  of  it,  only  the  promise 


150  Gospel  Pioneering 

of  the  owner  that  before  he  would  sell  it,  he  would 
give  us  the  first  chance  to  buy  it.  A  fact  this  was 
which  caused  uneasiness  of  spirit  for  me,  and  probably 
for  others.  One  day,  entering  the  printing  office  of 
which  our  treasurer  was  bookkeeper,  I  was  told  that 
the  owner  of  the  lot  had  called  upon  him  to  say  that 
he  was  offering  the  lot  for  sale  at  $1,500,  and  that 
we  could  have  it  at  that  price,  but  we  must  take  it  at 
once.  "And  did  you  say  that  we  w^ould  take  it?  "  I 
asked.  The  dear  brother  opened  his  eyes  wide,  and 
with  a  smile,  replied,  "How  could  I?"  "Well,"  I 
replied,  "if  he  calls  again,  and  even  if  he  adds  three 
hundred  dollars  to  the  price,  tell  him  that  we  will 
take  it."  Within  three  days  he  did  call  again  to  an- 
nounce three  hundred  dollars  added  to  the  price;  nor 
could  he  be  dissuaded  from  this  demand.  He  was  a 
good  man,  and  was  not  willing  to  be  or  to  seem  hard 
in  his  dealings  with  us;  but  for  some  reason  he  greatly 
needed  that  amount,  and  this  price  was  really  not  ex- 
cessive. He  w^anted  the  money  at  once,  but  I  said, 
"  Of  course  he  must  be  able  to  give  us  a  sound  title, 
approved  by  our  attorney."  He  did  not  find  this  so 
easy  as  he  supposed,  and  thus  a  little  time  was  secured 
for  us;  and  as  soon  as  the  title  was  confirmed,  the 
money  was  on  hand,  and  for  the  time  being  the  lot 
became  mine.  Upon  the  refunding  of  this  in  monthly 
installments,  the  title  w^as  of  course  transferred  to  the 
church,   duly  incorporated. 

Now,  viewed  from  a  merely  business  standpoint, 
that  promise  to  purchase  could  not  be  justified  as  a 
business  transaction,  for  I  had  not  the  money  and  my 
people  did  not  have  it,  nor  could  I  have  told  where  or 


Bethany  Church  151 

how  it  was  to  be  raised.  But  from  the  standpoint  of 
faith,  it  was  safe,  and  it  saved  the  church  from  a  disas- 
ter which  might  and  probably  would  have  been  fatal  to 
it.  Am  I  asked  upon  what  could  such  faith  be  founded? 
I  reply  that  I  have  spoken  too  briefly  in  another  chap- 
ter concerning  the  *'  Gifts "  of  our  ascended  Lord 
through  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  which  Paul  wrote  so 
clearly  and  confidently  in  Romans,  twelfth  chapter, 
and  again  in  I  Corinthians,  twelfth  chapter,  more  in 
detail.  This  has  so  modified  my  thoughts  and  uplifted 
me  in  courage  and  good  cheer  that  I  feel  that  I  must 
not  close  these  Reminiscences  without  devoting  a  final 
chapter  to  this  element  of  real  Christian  faith.  Suffice 
it  to  say  here  that  I  see  —  I  may  even  say  I  felt  —  in 
my  counsel  then  given  to  our  treasurer  the  Spirit  of 
God  speaking  through  me,  just  as  I  came  afterwards 
to  realize  it  in  the  promise  I  made  to  our  Chinese 
brethren.      (See  p.   134.) 

When  I  add  that  the  money  was  provided  in  a  very 
simple  way  by  my  finding  a  Christian  brother  whose 
name  written  on  the  back  of  my  note  made  that  note 
good  at  a  bank  for  the  entire  amount,  all  mystery  about 
the  whole  transaction  disappears.  But  this  was  the  first 
time  in  my  life  that  I  had  ever  asked  this  of  any  per- 
son, and  the  fact  that  I  could  do  this  did  not  occur 
to  me  till  a  short  time  after  the  responsibility  was 
assumed;  and  I  remember  that  my  friend  and  helper 
said  that  it  was  the  first  time  that  he  had  endorsed  a 
note.  Yet  there  was  not  with  me  a  moment  of  anx- 
iety about  the  matter  from  beginning  to  end. 

Soon  after  we  commenced  our  Sunday  services,  we  en- 
larged our  chapel  by  adding  at  the  rear  of  it  two  rooms, 


152  Gospel  Pioneering 

one  for  the  use  of  our  ladies,  when  on  various  occasions, 
social  or  financial,  they  furnished  us  with  refreshments, 
and  the  other  to  be  on  week  days  my  study  and  on  Sun- 
days the  primary  class  room.  With  the  eye  of  our  faith 
upon  a  larger  building  that  would  be  needed  and  in  some 
way  would  be  provided,  the  dimensions  of  this  addi- 
tion w^re  made  to  be  such  that  the  whole  building 
could  be  turned  and  placed  on  the  rear  of  our  lot, 
with  room  in  front  of  it  sufficiently  large  for  any  con- 
gregation that  we  would  wish  for.  We  said  one  to 
another,  "  If  that  becomes  too  small  for  us,  it  will  be 
time  for  us  to  swarm."  A  second  story  was  after- 
wards added  to  this  building,  and  then  our  tabernacle 
was  regarded  as  complete. 

For  years  w^e  waited  till  the  call  of  the  Master 
came  to  us:  "Arise  and  build."  Then  the  question 
came  whether  it  should  be  a  temporary  structure  cost- 
ing, say,  four  thousand  dollars  and  involving  us  in  no 
debt,  or  w^hether  we  should  erect  a  permanent  struct- 
ure and  incur  a  debt  of  four  thousand  dollars.  We 
determined  on  the  latter  plan  as  being  on  the  whole 
more  economical ;  since  the  cheaper  building  would, 
if  our  hopes  were  realized,  need  to  be  removed  or  torn 
down  whenever  we  outgrew^  it.  We  reached  this  con- 
clusion the  more  readily  because  our  income  was  ex- 
ceeding our  current  expenses  by  about  forty  dollars  a 
month,  so  that  even  if  the  larger  and  better  building 
brought  no  increase  of  income,  we  could  meet  the  in- 
terest on  four  thousand  dollars  and  not  run  behind. 

We  secured  subscriptions  amounting  to  four  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  received  from  a  bank  the  promise  of 
a  loan  of  four  thousand  dollars.    A  Christian  brother 


Bethany  Church  153 

served  us  so  well  as  architect  that  all  our  people  be- 
came enthusiastic  over  his  designs.  He  also  supplied 
us  w^ith  an  opinion  from  an  experienced  contractor 
that  the  building  could  be  erected  at  a  cost  slightly- 
less  than  eight  thousand  dollars,  and  a  member  of  our 
church  entered  into  contract  with  us  correspondingly. 

Thus  far  all  had  moved  on  with  delightful  smooth- 
ness.    Now  began  trials  of  our  faith. 

When  the  four  thousand  dollars  had  been  collected 
and  used,  we  went  to  the  bank  to  complete  arrange- 
ments for  the  loan  which  its  president  had  promised 
to  us,  and  found  that  the  directors  had  refused  to 
fulfil  that  promise.  They  had  given  us  no  notice  of 
their  action.  "  They  w^ould  not  loan  to  a  church  on 
any  terms." 

Our  treasurer  came  to  me  greatly  troubled ;  but 
the  same  Unseen  Friend  whose  guidance  had  led  us 
thus  far,  was  with  me  still  and  suggested  a  way  of 
escape  for  us  which  put  me  so  completely  at  rest  in 
spirit  that  I  slept  peacefully  that  night  and  in  the 
morning  proceeded  to  carry  out  His  suggestion.  The 
result  was  that  Mrs.  A.  J.  Stiles,  a  mother  in  our 
Congregational  Israel,  even  against  the  advice  of  her 
business  agent,  who  declared  that  a  loan  to  a  church 
was  always  troublesome  and  unsafe,  insisted  that  we 
should  have  not  simply  four  thousand  dollars  but  five 
thousand,  if  we  needed  it,  and  at  an  interest  lower 
than  the  bank  would  have  charged. 

So  the  work  went  on  with  peace  and  comfort  till 
a  sorer  trial  of  our  faith  appeared.  Our  contractor 
failed  and  was  unable  to  finish  the  job.  The  re- 
sult was  that  what,  according  to  the  estimate  of  our 


154  Gospel  Pioneering 

architect  and  our  contractor,  should  have  cost  us  eight 
thousand  dollars,  cost  us  thirteen  thousand  dollars; 
and  notwithstanding  a  giving  much  in  excess  of  w^hat 
had  been  pledged,  we  were  in  debt  $6,500  instead  of 
$4,000. 

We  were  greatly  pleased  with  our  building.  It  was 
at  once  so  substantial  and  so  beautiful,  both  within 
and  without,  an  object  of  interest  not  only  to  us  but 
to  citizens  generally  in  our  region,  that  despite  our 
disappointments  we  lifted  the  load  cheerily.  But  there 
were  further  expenses  to  be  met:  a  furnace  must  be 
purchased  and  put  in  place;  janitor  service  and  other 
incidentals  had  much  increased,  and  —  worst  of  all  — 
several  of  those  brave  young  men  who  started  our  work 
as  a  church  with  such  good  spirit  and  generous  offerings, 
were  moving  away.  One  went  to  Oregon ;  our  good  treas- 
urer to  Oakland;  others  to  distant  parts  of  the  city, 
and  one  had  lost  his  position  and  w^ith  it  his  whole 
income.  Nevertheless,  every  bill  of  every  sort,  except 
the  pastor's  salar}^  was  promptly  paid.  This  was  his 
own  instruction  to  the  treasurer:  "  Pay  everything 
else  first."  The  business  manager  of  our  chief  cred- 
itor began  to  speak  his  glad  surprise  that  a  church 
should  give  him  no  chance  to  collect  the  interest;  the 
treasurer  was  on  hand  with  it  on  the  morning  of  every 
day  on  w^hich  it  became  due.  Nevertheless,  in  one 
way  or  another,  the  gracious  unseen  Provider  made 
it  possible  for  the  pastor  to  be  as  prompt  in  paying 
his  bills  as  he  w^ished  the  treasurer  to  be  with  those 
of  the  church.  To  this  day  I  am  puzzled  over  this 
fact:  how  was  it  that  every  real  need  was  met,  and 


Bethany  Church  155 

that  never  once  was  I  obliged  to  ask  for  a  postpone- 
ment of  payday. 

But  this  punctuality  was  not  attained  wholly 
through  our  income.  Some  of  the  money  that  made 
this  possible  came  through  loans  on  personal  credit, 
and  the  debt  was  not  decreasing,  it  was  slowly  in- 
creasing. One  of  the  steadfast  givers  said  to  me:  "  If 
only  we  could  see  the  debt  diminishing,  it  would  be 
easy  to  give  and  to  sacrifice  in  giving " ;  and  then 
added,  "  But — ,"  and  left  the  sentence  unfinished.  I 
myself  was  praying  daily  that  we  might  be  enabled 
"  to  clip  off  something  month  by  month  " ;  and  I  even 
seemed  to  cry  out  to  the  listening  Jesus :  "  Did  I  not 
ask  Thee  to  guide  us,  and  even  beg  Thee  to  stop  us 
if  it  seemed  to  Thee  unwise  for  us  to  go  on?"  At 
length,  one  morning  as  I  rose  from  my  knees,  I  found 
that  I  had  prayed  that  "  the  debt  might  be  fully  paid, 
not  a  shred  of  it  left";  and  I  found  myself  ready  to 
exclaim  with  that  Israelitish  nobleman,  "  If  the  win- 
dows of  heaven  might  be  opened,  could  this  be?"  I 
could  see  no  signs  of  its  probable  fulfilment.  I  do  not 
remember  that  I  had  faith  to  expect  a  granting  of  my 
audacious  request. 

About  six  weeks  after  this,  Mr.  Robert  Balfour  of 
the  great  British  house  of  Balfour,  Guthrie  and  Com- 
pany, met  me  on  the  street,  and  tapping  me  on  the 
shoulder,  said :  "  There's  something  in  our  office  to  in- 
terest you;  call  in  and  see  about  it."  "  I'll  go  in  now," 
I  said.  He  replied,  "  Mr.  Forman  "  (the  other  resi- 
dent partner)  "  is  very  busy  just  now;  come  in  tomor- 
row." On  going  in  on  the  morrow,  Mr.  Forman 
showed  me  a  letter  from  Mr.  Williamson,  one  of  the 


156  Gospel  Pioneering 

founders  of  the  house  (the  title  of  which  in  Liverpool 
is  ''Balfour,  Williamson  and  Company"),  in  which 
he  said :  "  We  are  greatly  interested  in  Mr.  Pond's 
good  work,  and  we  would  like  to  have  the  firm  give 
one  thousand  dollars,  and  I  will  give  five  hundred 
dollars  and  Mr.  Alexander  Balfour  will  give  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  I  hope  that  this  will  stimulate  giving 
by  others." 

I  was  startled  —  too  much  so  to  ask  any  payment. 
I  went  home  thinking  and  saying  to  myself,  "  It  is  my 
work  for  the  Chinese  that  has  interested  him,  and  I 
must  use  it  for  that";  nevertheless,  almost  praying 
that  it  might  lead  to  the  extinguishment  of  our  debt, 
which  was  now  about  eight  thousand  dollars.  When 
I  reached  home  I  told  the  good  news  to  my  wife,  and 
her  exclamation  echoed  mine:  "  I  wish  that  could 
go  toward  our  church  debt."  At  length  I  resolved, 
realizing,  as  I  did,  that  a  failure  of  Bethany  Church 
would  be  almost  a  deathblow  to  our  missionar\^  work, 
that  I  would  call  the  next  day  on  the  gentlemen  whom 
I  have  already  named  and  tell  them  of  our  debt,  how 
it  was  incurred,  and  assure  them  that  if  this  donation 
could  be  devoted  to  that  purpose,  I  believed  that  with 
such  leverage  I  could  raise  the  whole  amount.  Ti'iey 
were  agreed  that  "  nothing  could  please  Mr.  William- 
son better  than  that.  —  Write  him  a  letter  about 
it,  and  come  and  dine  with  us  tomorrow  evening  and 
read  your  letter  to  us."  I  returned  home,  and  my 
wife  and  I  talked  further,  agreeing  to  tell  the  news 
to  no  one  until  all  questions  concerning  it  could  be 
answered. 

After  that  dinner  I  read  my  long,   frank  letter  to 


Bethany  Church  157 

my  friends,  and  they  agreed  so  fully  that  it  would  be 
acceptable  to  their  partners  in  England  that  they  sug- 
gested that  I  go  to  work  at  once  to  raise  the  balance. 
I  did  so,  and  in  about  three  months  had  received 
pledges  sufficient  so  that  if  our  own  people  would  give 
three  thousand  dollars,  the  whole  debt  could  be  removed. 

I  made  up  a  list  of  all  of  us  of  whom  anything 
could  be  expected,  omitting  good  Deacon  Palache,  a 
bookkeeper,  and  the  only  one  among  us  all  of  whom 
I  knew  that  he  had  money  in  the  bank.  He  had 
$2,500,  saved  from  his  limited  salary.  I  asked  him 
to  come  to  me  in  my  study,  naming  an  evening  for 
it:  "I  had  something  to  show  him."  He  came,  and 
I  told  him  the  whole  story  and  then  showed  him  my 
list  and  the  amounts  at  which  I  had  assessed  each  one 
—  interrupted  several  times  by  his  remark,  "  That's 
too  much  for  him  or  her."  When  we  reached  the  end 
and  found  that  it  totalled  $2,500,  and  that  his  name 
was  not  down,  he  took  the  hint  instantly  and  said, 
"  I'll  do  it;  ril  do  it!  "  "  Well,  then,"  I  replied,  "  if 
after  I  have  told  the  story  to  the  people,  you  will  rise 
and,  speaking  not  more  than  two  minutes,  will  make 
your  pledge,  I  believe  that  the  three  thousand  dollars 
will  be  raised."  He  did  it,  and  within  twenty  min- 
utes  the  amount  was  subscribed,  and  in  about  five 
months  from  the  morning  when  I  offered  that  "  in- 
wrought "  prayer,  the  debt  was  extinguished  —  "  not 
a  shred  of  it  left." 

It  must  have  been  close  to  the  very  day  on  which 
in  San  Francisco  I  offered  that  "  inwrought  prayer," 
when  in  Liverpool  my  friend  was  writing  that  letter. 
Indeed,  I  can  easily  picture  to  myself  the  unseen  Jesus 


158  Gospel  Pioneering 

who  near  me  was  prompting  my  petition,  standing  also 
near  to  him  in  Liverpool  and  dictating  what  he  wrote. 
I  think  that  my  readers  will  be  interested  to  know  how 
this  Christian  merchant  became  interested  in  my  work. 
Nearly  eight  months  before  this  good  news  came  to 
me,  I  found  one  day  that  I  needed  two  hundred  dol- 
lars in  order  to  meet  the  bills  that  day  falling  due. 
I  was  not  in  good  mood  for  solicitation,  and  I  said  to 
myself,  "  I  will  go  to  Balfour,  Guthrie  and  Company 
and  get  their  subscription  of  fifty  dollars,  and  wnll  put 
my  note  in  the  bank  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars." 
So  I  opened  up  my  subscription  book  and  did  my  er- 
rand, and  my  good  friend  took  my  book  to  enter  the 
subscription.  I  noticed  an  elderly  gentleman  sitting 
in  the  office,  and,  imagining  that  I  might  be  inter- 
rupting some  business  conversation,  hoped  in  a  few 
minutes  to  withdraw.  But  this  gentleman  asked, 
"What  is  it,  Forman  ?  "  —  "  Our  Chinese  Mission," 
he  replied,  whereupon  the  gentleman  began  to  ques- 
tion me.  I  answered  very  awkwardly  and  to  myself 
unsatisfactorily.  But  in  three  or  four  minutes  he 
turned  to  Mr.  Forman  and  asked,  "  How  much  do 
you  subscribe?"  —  "Fifty  dollars,"  was  the  reply. — 
"  Better  make  it  a  hundred,"  he  said,  and  Mr.  For- 
man obeyed.  Before  that  could  be  written  he  added, 
"And  put  me  down  for  fifty,"  and  before  this  was 
written  he  said  again,  "  and  put  Mr.  Balfour  of  Liv- 
erpool down  for  fifty  dollars.  I  know  that  he  will 
like  it."  And  so  I  went  out  with  two  hundred  dol- 
lars and  put  no  note  in  the  bank. 


Social  Questions  159 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

EARLY  CONGREGATIONALISM  AND  SOCIAL 
QUESTIONS 

In  connection  with  my  first  sermon  preached  in 
California  I  was  requested  to  lead  in  the  pastoral 
prayer.  In  the  course  of  it  I  asked  that  slavery, 
among  other  evils,  might  cease.  The  pastor  meeting 
me  the  next  day  suggested  that  if  I  must  pray  against 
slavery,  I  do  it  under  another  name,  —  oppression,  for 
example,  or  cruelty.  "  The  Lord  will  know  what 
you  mean,"  he  said.  Now,  to  tell  the  truth,  notwith- 
standing an  intense  momentary  revolt  at  the  sug- 
gestion, I  soon  saw  a  reasonable  side  to  it.  I  am 
speaking  not  for  myself  alone  but  for  the  whole  wor- 
shipping assembly,  and  I  must  consider  not  only  my 
personal  wishes  but  theirs  also.  California,  though 
admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  *'  Free  "  state,  was,  in 
politics  and  in  the  social  atmosphere  of  its  people,  if 
not  pro-slavery,  at  least  bitterly  hostile  to  any  agi- 
tation against  it;  and  I  observed  a  silent  recognition 
of  this  fact  on  the  part  of  our  little  company  of  min- 
isters, except  when  occasion  called  for  utterance,  and 
then  they  spoke  distinctlj^  I  have  already  referred  to 
the  fact  that  when  I  arrived  it  was  a  young  tradition 
that  an  article  in  "  The  Pacific,"  of  which  I  understood 
that  Mr.  Willey  was  the  writer,  led  to  the  defeat  of 
a  plot  to  divide  the  State  and  make  its  Southern  por- 
tion slave  territory.  That  proposal  some  years  after- 
wards was  made  publicly,  and  tentatively  pressed,  and 


i6o  Gospel  Pioneering 

led  to  a  Fourth  of  July  sermon  in  my  mountain  par- 
ish which  gained  for  me  the  soubriquet  of  the  "Aboli- 
tion Preacher."  Others,  I  dare  say,  attained  to  like 
honor  with  its  accompanying  penalties,  for  we  find 
that  our  Association  did  not  w^ait  till  the  bombard- 
ment of  Fort  Sumter  had  roused  the  Free  States  to 
fight  for  the  Union  and  had  turned  public  sentiment 
towards  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  in  1854,  when 
to  be  a  Republican  at  all  was  to  be  a  "  Black  Repub- 
lican," and  a  pastor  that  dared  to  speak  in  his  pulpit 
against  slavery  was  declared  on  the  hustings  to  have 
"  mortgaged  himself  to  the  devil,"  the  following  pre- 
amble and  resolution  was  adopted: 

"  Whereas,  the  great  question  of  slavery  is  engag- 
ing the  intense  inquiry  of  the  churches  and  the  people 
of  the  land ;  and  whereas,  w^e  have  reason  to  believe 
that  many  are  endeavoring  to  involve  this  State  in  this 
stupendous  iniquity;  resolved,  that  we  bear  testimony 
against  this  evil  and  as  Christian  ministers  shall  labor 
in  our  sphere  and  to  our  ability  against  its  encroach- 
ments in  our  State  and  land." 

After  the  Civil  War  began,  there  was  at  each  of 
our  meetings  a  committee  on  the  "  State  of  the  Coun- 
try," of  which  Dr.  Benton  was  usually  made  the 
chairman ;  and  the  ringing  tones  in  which  he  spoke 
for  us  of  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  the  nation,  and  of 
slaver}^  as  the  root  of  bitterness  from  which  all  our 
quarrels  rose,  make  music  still.  I  quote  a  brief  ex- 
tract from  one  of  these  resolutions  adopted  enthusi- 
astically in  1862: 

"  Whereas,  the  institution  of  slavery  has  been  the 
underlying  cause  out  of  whose  activities  have  sprung 


Social  Questions  i6i 

the  more  immediate  occasions  of  this  War,  being  the 
prolific  cause  of  the  alienation,  jealousies,  feuds  and 
sectional  strifes  which  have  culminated  in  wanton 
and  wicked  rebellion  against  the  truest  and  most  ma- 
jestic of  all  earthly  governments  —  a  government  of 
freemen  in  liberty,  therefore 

"  Resolved,  that  we  respectfully  tender  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  advisers  our  sympathy  with  them  amid 
their  perplexities,  our  assurance  of  regard  amidst  all 
obloquy,  and  our  unwavering  support  through  all 
difficulties  and  dangers. 

"  Resolved,  that  since  the  enemies  of  the  Union  are 
determined  to  wage  the  contest  to  the  bitter  end,  we, 
under  a  righteous  sense  of  duty  to  God,  are  in  favor 
of  carrying  on  against  them  a  war  which  is  war.  .  .  . 

"  Resolved,  that  we  are  gratified  at  the  Emancipa- 
tion Scheme  proposed  by  the  President  as  a  War  Meas- 
ure after  January  next,  believing  it  to  be  called  for 
by  the  emergencies  of  the  case  and  in  accordance  with 
the  demands  of  the  age  and  of  all  ages." 

Scarcely  need  I  say,  much  less  to  quote  as  proof  of 
my  testimony,  that  as  to  intemperance,  divorce.  Sab- 
bath breaking,  gambling  and  the  foulnesses  always 
close  by  in  gambling  halls,  we  used  equal  plainness 
of  speech.  As  far  back  as  1853  w^e  were  found  pro- 
posing and  urging  the  legal  prohibition  of  the  traffic 
in  intoxicating  drinks,  and  I  think  that  no  session  of 
our  Association  failed  to  adopt  some  report  pledging 
ourselves  to  do  w^hatever  we  could  to  further  the 
Temperance  cause. 

The  first  public  school  in  California  was  opened 
in  Monterey  in  1849,  with  our  Brother  Willey  as 
teacher.  Afterwards,  when  he  had  removed  to  San 
Francisco,  our  churches  joined  with  others  in  march- 


1 62  Gospel  Pioneering 

ing  the  children  of  this  city  in  a  procession  about  lOO 
strong  along  the  business  streets,  to  emphasize  an  ap- 
peal for  the  opening  of  a  public  school.  When  I 
arrived  I  found  a  Congregational  layman  devoting 
his  whole  time,  except  that  given  to  w^ork  in  the 
church,  to  the  establishment  of  public  schools  and 
making  provision  for  their  reliable  continuance.  It 
w^ould  be  difficult  to  make  any  Californian  whose 
residence  in  the  State  does  not  cover  more  than  fifty 
years,  conceive  of  the  indifference  which  Col.  Nevins 
encountered  in  pressing  this  work;  —  that  is,  as  I 
think  that  I  once  heard  it  called,  "  riding  his  hobby." 
But  I  need  not  say  that  as  to  this,  Congregationalists, 
pastors  and  people  alike,  spoke  in  no  uncertain  sounds. 
Interest  had  hardly  become  general  when  a  movement 
was  started  for  the  division  of  public  school  money 
between  public,  non-sectarian  schools  and  parish 
(Romish)  ones.  At  this  point,  too,  our  voice  was 
heard  among  many  others,  and  that  danger-point  was 
passed  safely. 

In  the  year  1856,  during  the  three  months  from 
May  14th  to  August  i8th,  there  took  place  in  San 
Francisco  a  revolution  as  heroic  in  its  conception  and 
development,  as  epochal  in  its  own  sphere,  as  greatly 
needed  and  as  wisely  and  bravely  brought  to  a  benefi- 
cent result  as  any  on  a  larger  scale  of  which  I  ever 
read.  In  the  beginning  of  its  existence  San  Francisco 
and  indeed  the  whole  of  California  was  practically 
lawless.  There  was  a  feeble  attempt  to  secure  law 
and  order,  using  Mexican  methods,  but  it  did  not 
fit  the  new  conditions  and  was  almost  powerless.  Con- 
gress, occupied  with  discussions,  all  of  them  rooted  in 


Social  Questions  163 

the  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  between  Slavery  and  Lib- 
erty, had  not  provided  a  Territorial  Government ;  and 
a  State  government,  even  after  a  Constitution  had 
been  framed  and  had  been  adopted  by  the  people, 
could  operate  but  feebly  so  long  as  it  remained  un- 
accepted by  Congress.  The  result  of  this  M^as  that 
convicts  from  Sydney,  men  that  wished  to  know  no 
law,  flocked  hither  and  by  force  of  numbers  and  re- 
peaters and  frauds  in  the  counting,  were  virtually  in 
possession  of  the  government,  such  as  it  was.  This 
condition  of  things  becoming  intolerable,  a  Vigilance 
Committee  was  formed  which  executed  the  law  not 
through  its  prescribed  forms  and  agencies,  but  ac- 
cording to  its  spirit.  Some  murderers  were  hung, 
some  guilty  of  frauds  in  politics  or  money  matters 
were  banished,  while  many  others  for  whom  prudence 
was  the  better  part  of  valor  left  the  city  for  the  city's 
good.* 

All  this  took  place  before  I  arrived.  I  am  telling 
the  story  as  it  was  told  to  me.  It  did  good  for  the 
time  being,  but  the  Committee  made  one  bad  mistake, 
or,  at  any  rate,  the  people  did  for  whom  the  Commit- 
tee counselled  and  wrought.  They  lapsed  into  polit- 
ical carelessness,  and  during  or  before  1855  the  old 
crowd  or  one  like  it  had  a  grip  on  the  city  govern- 
ment which  it  seemed  impossible  to  loosen.  The  safest 
thing  a  murderer  or  any  other  criminal  who  "  had  a 
pull,"    could   do   was   to   surrender   himself   for   trial. 

*  "  Between  1849  and  1856  more  than  one  thousand 
murders  had  been  committed,  and  only  one  legal  con- 
viction secured." — Atherton's  Intimate  History  of  Cal- 
ifornia, p.  172. 


164  Gospel  Pioneering 

Acquittal  might  be  costly,  but  it  could  be  had.  I  re- 
member across  sixty  years  how  the  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  released  from  jail  on  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  some  young  men  openly  guilty  of  some 
crime,  and  justified  his  action  by  saying,  "  Why,  they 
were  my  friends."  Then  there  came  to  the  rescue  one 
of  Nature's  noblemen,  James  King  of  William.  Be- 
longing to  a  large  tribe  of  James  Kings,  he  had  found 
it  convenient  to  add  his  father's  name  to  his  own.  I 
first  knew  him  as  a  banker.  He  sold  his  business,  and 
at  length  he  issued  a  little  daily  paper  of  four  small 
octavo  pages  which  he  named  "  The  Evening  Bulletin." 
He  w^ent,  well  prepared  with  facts  and  proofs,  into 
the  frankest  and  bravest  statements  respecting  the  con- 
dition of  the  city  and  the  corrupt  politicians  who  had 
brought  about  that  condition.  It  was  scarcely  a  w^eek, 
as  I  well  remember,  before  the  demand  for  the  little 
sheet  became  so  heavy  that  it  was  scarcely  possible, 
with  the  facilities  at  his  command,  to  print  the  number 
called  for.  Thus  he  was  enabled  to  enlarge  it  and 
procure  better  facilities.  Soon  after  this,  a  man  named 
Cora  committed  murder  openly  in  the  street.  He 
took  refuge  in  the  jail,  was  tried,  and  while  eleven  of 
the  jury  were  honest  men  and  voted  him  guilty,  there 
was  one  w^ho  stood  out  for  acquittal.  "  He  was  man- 
ifestly bribed,"  said  one  of  his  fellow  jurymen  to  me. 
This  raised  public  indignation,  and  it  was  duly  charac- 
terized in  the  "  Bulletin."  Not  long  after,  an  ex-con- 
vict from  New  York,  named  Casey,  who  had  some- 
how contrived  to  become  a  supervisor,  passed  under 
the  "  Bulletin's  "  animadversion,  and  having  received 
no  satisfaction  through  a  call  at  the  office,   met  the 


Social  Questions  165 

editor  on  the  street  and  shot  him,  and  then  hastened 
to  the  jail.  Mr.  King  was  not  instantly  killed.  It 
was  the  beloved  Edward  Lacy,  pastor  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church,  that  was  called  to  his  bed- 
side, for  he  had  recently  chosen  that  church  for  his 
religious  home.  Mr.  Lacy  wrote  of  him:  "  His  last 
words  and  look  were  such  that  in  my  memory  his 
dark  locks  are  wreathed  with  an  immortal  crown." 

That  very  night  a  second  Vigilance  Committee  was 
organized,  with  no  less  than  2500  members.  The  next 
day  the  sheriff,  under  pressure  of  a  loaded  cannon 
trained  up  before  the  jail  door,  surrendered  to  the 
Committee  both  Casey  and  Cora,  and  they  were  taken 
to  quarters  made  ready  elsewhere.  There  they  re- 
ceived a  fair  trial  in  strict  accordance  with  the  spirit, 
though  not  with  all  the  forms,  of  law,  and  were  found 
guilty  and  hung.  After  that  not  only  a  number  of 
well-known  thieves  and  other  evil-doers  w^re  tried 
and  sentenced  to  leave  the  State,  but  no  less  a  per- 
sonage than  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
was  arrested  for  murderous  assault  and  held  till  his 
victim's  convalescence  set  him  free. 

This  Committee  continued  its  work  for  only  three 
months,  as  I  have  said,  but  it  did  not  pass  out  of  ex- 
istence, and  the  fact  of  its  existence  was  a  terror  to 
them  that  did  evil.  And  indirectly  it  controlled  the 
politics  of  the  city  for  about  eighteen  years,  seeing  to 
it,  as  far  as  possible,  that  there  should  be  no  fraudu- 
lent voting  or  counting  at  the  elections,  and  thus  se- 
curing for  San  Francisco,  quite  soon,  the  reputation 
of  being  the  best  governed  city  in  the  State,  or  even 
in  the  nation. 


i66  Gospel  Pioneering 

Now  the  point  which  I  wish  to  bring  out  is  that  in 
this  movement,  which  may  truly  be  declared  to  be  the 
most  fully  justified,  the  best  managed  and  the  most 
successful  revolution  the  world  ever  saw,  Congrega- 
tionalism was  largely  represented.  Mr.  Lacy  wrote 
that  though  the  church  w^as  filled  to  the  door  on  that 
Sunday  following  the  death  of  Mr.  King,  he  was  dis- 
tressed at  missing  all  the  young  men  who  had  gath- 
ered about  him  and  had  been  for  him  such  a  full- 
flowing  source  of  inspiration  and  joy.  They  were 
busy  serving  the  Lord  in  another  w^ay.  Mr.  Lacy 
quotes  a  Southern  gentleman  who  was  watching  the 
soldierly  members  of  the  Committee  marching  towards 
the  jail,  as  saying,  "  When  you  see  these  psalm-singing 
Yankees  out  like  that  on  Sunday,  hell  is  coming/' 
And  I  am  still  convinced  that  in  those  days  that  tried 
men's  souls,  Congregationalism  represented  in  that 
First  Church  and  in  such  men  as  Lacy  and  Benton 
and  Warren  and  all  the  rest,  was  second  to  no  other 
force  in  this  new  and  greatly  troubled  State,  making 
for  righteousness.  I  remember  to  have  said  in  those 
days  that  tried  men's  souls,  both  in  connection  with 
the  heroic  struggle  of  the  Vigilance  Committee  for  the 
establishment  of  justice  and  law  and  order  in  San 
Francisco,  and  the  different  but  no  less  heroic  service 
to  our  whole  country  during  the  war  for  Union  and 
Liberty,  that  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  San 
Francisco,  under  the  leadership  of  Edward  S.  Lacy, 
was  preeminent,  and  I  was  never  contradicted. 


In  Conclusion  167 


CHAPTER  XV. 

IN  CONCLUSION 

It  marked  an  epoch  in  the  early  history  of  Congre- 
gationalism in  California,  when  in  1864  Rev.  James 
H.  Warren  was  appointed  by  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  its  Agent  for  the  Pacific  Coast. 
How  this  was  viewed  at  the  time  appears  in  this  brief 
but  hearty  endorsement  of  it  by  the  General  Asso- 
ciation :  "  Resolved,  that  we  hail  with  joy  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  resident  Agent  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  for  the  Pacific  Coast,  —  and  that 
we  will  heartily  cooperate  with  him  in  the  work  en- 
trusted to  his  hands."  Two  years  after  this  the  rec- 
ord is  that  "  The  Narrative  and  Statistics  indicate  a 
prosperity  perhaps  hardly  equalled  in  any  preceding 
year." 

The  field  was  immense  territorially,  immense  also 
in  its  potencies,  its  opportunities  and  its  consequent 
demands.  Two  other  brethren  had  received  such  an 
appointment.  Rev.  I.  H.  Brayton  and  Rev.  T.  D. 
Hunt,  but  the  former  was  compelled  soon  to  resign 
on  account  of  ill  health,  and  the  latter,  devoting  him- 
self mainly  to  exploration,  must  have  incurred  travel- 
ing expenses  too  great  for  a  missionary  treasury  to 
afEord.  Whether  this  was  the  reason  for  the  cessation 
of  the  work,  I  do  not  know,  but  it  did  soon  cease,  and 
for  several  years  this  ministry,  so  greatly  needed,  was 
not  resumed.  Dr.  Warren  had  been  nominated  for 
the  position  in  1859,  but  we  waited  five  years  for  the 
nomination  to  take  effect  in  his  appointment. 


i68  Gospel  Pioneering 

He  was  the  man  for  the  hour.  Even  what  may  be 
said  to  be  his  one  defect  might  also  be  said  to  be  a 
help  and  blessing  partially  disguised.  He  was  very 
sanguine,  and  this  caused  him  sometimes  to  see  in  the 
future  what  would  not  be  found  there,  —  to  see  it  so 
distinctly  as  to  cause  him  to  encourage  others  to  ex- 
pect what  could  not  be  provided.  One  of  our  home 
missionaries  once  wittily  said,  "  Dr.  Warren  is  the 
most  promising  man  I  ever  met."  But  there  was  a 
great  deal  in  his  work  which  called  for  just  that  hope- 
ful spirit,  which  descries  real  possibilities  such  as  an- 
other might  not  see,  and  impels  one  to  undertake  and 
finally  to  achieve  what  one  less  sanguine  would  not 
even  have  considered.  He  was  a  hearty  man,  ready 
to  clasp  the  hand  even  of  a  stranger,  and  then  to  dis- 
cover the  best  in  all  whom  he  might  meet.  He  quickly 
made  himself  at  home  with  recent  acquaintances  and 
gained  friendships  which  outlived  long  separation. 
He  carried  the  Home  Missionary  churches  on  his 
heart,  the  care  of  them,  a  welcome  though  often  heavy 
load.  He  w^as  greatly  blessed  in  his  wife,  who  was 
not  only  a  zealous  but  a  wise  woman,  with  whom  in 
his  frequent  and  long  absences  he  could  better  leave 
his  home  affairs  than  he  could  take  care  of  them  him- 
self, —  a  woman  greatly  beloved,  in  whom  Mary  and 
Martha  were  happily  combined. 

Dr.  Warren  received  his  commission  while  still  our 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  was  working  un- 
der the  Plan  of  Union,  so  that  the  interest  of  the  New 
School  churches,  so  far  as  these  were  subserved  by  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  must  have  come 
under  his   care.     The   fact   that   I   do  not   remember 


In  Conclusion  169 

hearing  a  single  word  of  complaint  from  our  Presby- 
terian brethren  respecting  his  administration  of  Home 
Missionary  affairs  makes  me  quite  sure  that  though 
personally  an  ardent  Congregatlonallst,  he  was  faith- 
ful to  the  spirit  of  the  Plan  of  Union  and  Impartial 
In  his  attention  and  co-working.  At  length,  In  1869- 
1870,  the  Reunion  of  the  two  great  branches  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  left  the  American  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  dependent  entirely  upon  the  Congre- 
gational churches,  and  It  became  In  fact,  as  afterwards 
In  name,  the  Congregational  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety. 

Few  of  those  now  with  us  have  any  remembrance 
of  the  constraint  and  restraint  In  which  we  had  been 
Involved  through  loyalty  to  that  compact  made  by  our 
fathers.  It  would  be  difficult  for  them  to  put  them- 
selves in  our  place  so  as  to  realize  what  a  relief  It  was 
to  be  free  to  lay  plans,  to  open  up  new  fields,  to  make 
explorarions  and  organize  churches  with  no  anxiety 
lest  we  might  seem  to  brethren  whom  we  loved,  to 
be  careless  of  their  denominational  rights  and  plans. 

I  venture  now  confidently  to  affirm  that  this  new 
liberty  of  ours  did  not  degenerate  Into  license.  I 
speak  confidently  because  I  was  from  1864  to  1875 
(If  not  longer)  the  first  Staristlcal  Secretary  of  the 
Association,  and  because  for  more  than  twenty-five 
years  I  was  the  Recording  Secretary,  first  of  the  "Ad- 
visory Committee  "  of  the  American  Home  Mission- 
ary Society  and  then  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  California  Auxiliary;  and  there  could  scarcely 
have  occurred  a  use  of  missionary  money  for  purposes 
of  denominational  competition  without   my  observing 


I70  Gospel  Pioneering 

and  remembering  it.  We  did  not  abandon  a  field 
which  we  had  entered  and  were  cultivating,  because 
some  other  denomination  had  entered  into  it,  for  such 
a  course  would  scarcely  admit  of  our  becoming  rooted 
and  fruitful  anywhere;  but  we  did  not  thrust  in  a 
Congregational  church  at  points  already  sufficiently 
churched  by  others.  The  field  was  too  wide  to  afford 
any  excuse  for  crowding  at  any  one  point.  The  des- 
titutions were  fearful,  and  no  appeal  of  ours  to  East- 
ern helpers  secured  the  needed  supplies  either  of  money 
or  of  men. 

Under  the  pressure  of  this  destitution,  we  began  to 
observe  the  wonderful  adaptability  of  the  policy  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims  to  solve  the  problems  of 
the  Frontier.  It  long  ago  became  a  familiar  characteriza- 
tion of  Congregationalism  that  it  is  ''  the  solvent  of 
sects,"  but  I  remember  when  it  dawned  upon  us  —  a 
new  discovery.  If  in  any  young  community  people 
of  several  different  denominations  came  to  see  that  by 
combining  they  could  at  once  establish  a  church  strong 
enough  for  efficient  service  to  Christ,  and  if  thus  they 
became  wise  enough  to  say,  "  Let  us  have  a  '  Union 
church,'  "  they  would  inevitably  make  it  a  congrega- 
tional church  without  the  capital  C.  That  is,  they 
will  instinctively  regulate  their  church  affairs  by  a 
majority  vote  of  the  entire  membership.  They  also 
will  of  necessity  be  autonomous.  Now  even  though 
they  are  strong  enough  to  be  self-sustaining,  they  will 
become  hungry  for  felloivship.  And  still  more,  if  they 
find  themselves  unable  alone  to  build  a  suitable  meet- 
ing-house or  to  support  suitably  a  pastor,  and  they 
need   the   practical    aid   of   fellowship,    to   whom   will 


In  Conclusion  171 

they  turn?     If  to  Presbyterians,  they  must  become  a 
Presbyterian   church;   if   to   Methodists,   a   Methodist 
church;   and  so  with   regard   to  any  and  every  com- 
pany of  Christian  people  combined  upon  the  principle 
of  mutual  control  as  distinguished  from  local  auton- 
omy and  mutual  fellowship.     So  also  with  regard  to 
companies    of    churches    established    to    maintain    any 
special    method    of    administering    the    sacraments    or 
to     uphold     any     confessedly     non-essential     dogma; 
they    cannot    apply    to    any    of    these;    they    cannot 
be    a    Baptist    church    or   an    Episcopal   or    Lutheran. 
To   whom   will   they   go?      Congregationalism   solves 
this  problem.     It  may  still  be  a  Union  church  and  call 
itself  by  that  name  without  adopting  our  accustomed 
nomenclature.     But   if   it  will   give  us   a  chance,  we 
will  make  it  at  home  with  us,  and  will  aid  it  up  to 
the   measure   of   its  needs,   so   far   as  our  means  will 

allow. 

Several  of  our  now  comparatively  strong  churches 
came  to  us  in  just  that  way,  and  became  at  length  as 
heartily  and  helpfully  Congregational,  not  discarding 
the  capital  C,  as  any  that  were  to  this  manner  born. 

In  some  cases,  however,  this  has  involved  us  in 
rather  bitter  disappointments.  Nearly  twenty  years 
ago  I  became  greatly  interested  in  a  church  organ- 
ized in  this  way,  the  first  church  in  a  little  village 
which  has  now  come  to  be  a  large  city.  Toward  the 
erection  of  its  house  of  worship  I  was  enabled  to  se- 
cure about  $4000.  The  element  in  it  originally  Con- 
gregational was  very  small.  Its  main  pillars,  as  I 
now  remember  the  case,  were  Baptists  and  Presby- 
terians,  with   a   goodly  share  of   Methodists.     What 


172  Gospel  Pioneering 

we  had  counted  upon  as  assuring  its  growth  and  full 
success,  proved  to  be  the  occasion  of  repeated  set- 
backs, bringing  it  more  than  once  almost  to  the  point 
of  extinction.  This  was  the  growth  of  the  village 
and  its  "  manifest  destiny  "  to  become  an  important 
city.  This  led  each  of  the  denominations  to  hasten 
their  coming  to  it.  Our  church  had  not  even  wel- 
comed its  expected  pastor,  when  a  Baptist  evangelist 
visited  the  village,  and  the  result  of  his  services  was 
that  two  of  the  main  pillars  of  the  young  church, 
with  all  the  other  Baptists  withdrew  from  it  to  form 
a  church  of  their  own  sect.  It  had  scarcely  recovered 
from  this  blow  when  a  Methodist  leader  drew  away 
the  Methodists,  and  after  that  the  heaviest  of  all  blows 
fell  when  the  Presbyterians  withdrew,  leaving  the 
mother  church  almost  prostrate.  Yet  it  survived,  and, 
I  think,  was  never  before  in  as  good  condition  as  it  is 
today.  Weaker  still  than  several  of  her  children,  she 
is  renewing  her  youth  and  gives  promise  of  being  for- 
ever young. 

Upon  a  showing  of  enrolled  membership,  we  are  in 
California,  as  in  the  whole  country,  one  of  the  smallest 
of  the  more  prominent  denominations.  But  this  is 
not  due  to  our  polity.  It  can  be  accounted  for  in 
other  ways.  And,  if  we  except  the  sect  which  claims 
as  especially  its  possession  the  name  of  "  Christian," 
and  if  we  take  account  of  what  might  be  called  our 
capital  at  the  time  when  we  began  with  some  measure 
of  freedom  to  act  for  ourselves,  no  other  body  of 
Christians  has  prospered  in  the  matter  of  membership 
more  than  we.  What  I  mean  by  capital  is  the  size 
of  each  denomination  at  the  time  spoken  of  —  the  re- 


In  Conclusion  173 

sources  In  numbers  from  which  in  the  country  at  large 
we  might  draw. 

Congregational  statistics  for  the  whole  country 
date  from  1857.  They  were  gathered  by  and  pub- 
lished in  the  "  Congregational  Quarterly,"  and  they 
showed  a  total  membership  of  220,332;  in  California 
463.  The  next  year  showed  257,634  in  the  whole 
country,  and  579  in  California.  The  Presbyterians 
had  427,790.  Thus  the  Presbyterians  were  nearly 
twice  as  numerous  as  we  were,  while  the  Baptists  and 
Methodists  were  more  than  four  times  as  numerous. 
In  sixty-nine  years  the  Congregationalists  have  become 
"  two  bands,"  two  Conferences,  Northern  and  South- 
ern, and  the  total  membership  34,280,  about  seventy- 
times  as  many  as  in  1857.  I  have  not  within 
reach  the  statistics  of  other  denominations,  and  will 
rejoice  with  any,  if  there  be  any,  whose  ratio  of  in- 
crease exceeds  ours.  But  when  we  consider  that  this 
increase  has  taken  place  here  while  what  I  have  called 
our  capital,  to  start  with,  was  so  small,  I  am  sure  that 
we  in  this  new  land,  in  this  "  frontier  "  field  to  which 
we  were  told  with  wearisome  reiteration  that  Congre- 
gationalism with  its  "  rope  of  sand  "  for  mutual  help- 
fulness was  ill  adapted,  have  no  need  to  be  discour- 
aged, but  rather  to  thank  God  and  press  on. 

If  now  I  may  close  with  a  few  words  of  sugges- 
tion with  reference  to  greater  efficiency,  let  me  say 
that  we  need  above  all  things  else  a  deeper,  more  in- 
tense and  general  appreciation  of  that  which  Jesus, 
just  before  his  ascension,  spoke  of  to  his  apostles,  as 
"the  promise  of  the  Father,"  eminent  among  all 
promises  and  in  a  true  sense  inclusive  of  them  all,  the 


174  Gospel  Pioneering 

**  baptism  with  the  Holy  Spirit,"  a  rich  experience 
whch  brings  us  into  absolute  assurance  of  faith,  into 
a  not  merely  principled  but  spontaneous  and  gladsome 
consecration,  entire  and  unconditional,  the  extinction 
of  selfishness,  self  crucified  with  Christ,  our  life  no 
other  than  His  life  in  us. 

With  this  there  will  come  freedom  and  power  as 
witnesses  for  Christ.  "  Ye  shall  receive  power  when 
the  Holy  Spirt  is  come  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my 
witnesses."  Acts  i  :8.  We  must  accept  the  plan  dis- 
tinctly and  unchangeably  adopted  by  our  Master  for 
redeeming  the  world  from  social  disorder  and  wretch- 
edness, namely,  the  saving  of  individuals  one  by  one 
from  sin.  This  is  foundation  work  in  the  uplift  of 
mankind,  and  to  lay  this  foundation,  stone  beside  stone, 
living  stones  upon  living  stones,  Christ  Himself  the 
chief  corner-stone,  this  is  the  Church's  special  voca- 
tion. It  is  something  that  human  government  cannot 
do,  that  civilization  cannot  do,  that  education  cannot 
do,  except  it  be  such  education  as  develops  in  strength 
and  beauty  that  hidden  life  into  which  we  are  born 
anew,  born  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Let  the  churches 
aim  at  this,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  achieve  it,  and 
all  the  rest  will  follow,  I  will  not  say  easily,  but  I 
will  say  normally,  rapidly,  triumphantly. 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       175 


CHAPTER   XVI. SUPPLEMENTAL. 

THE  CHARISMATA:  SPIRITUAL  GIFTS 

"  The  old  Protestant  theologians  understood  by 
this  term  the  endowment  to  perform  miraculous 
works;  such  as  the  speaking  with  tongues,  healing  the 
sick,  raising  the  dead ;  and  limited  it  to  the  Primitive 
Church.  This  is  still  the  view  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  which  regards  these  gifts  either  as  forfeited 
by  the  Church's  guilt,  as  do  the  followers  of  Edward 
Irving,  or  as  extinguished  by  God  as  no  longer  neces- 
sary." 

So  writes  one  of  our  standard  authors.  Another 
more  recent,  responsive  to  the  modes  of  thinking  cur- 
rent in  our  day,  seems  to  attribute  the  endowments  of 
power  which  the  newborn  disciples  at  Corinth  and 
elsewhere  received,  to  a  natural  process  "  which  ceased 
to  operate  when  the  Church  took  its  place  as  an  estab- 
lished institution."  .  .  .  ''  It  would  have  been  surprising 
had  so  entire  a  revolution  in  human  feelings  and  pros- 
pects as  Christianity  introduced,  not  been  accompanied 
by  some  extraordinary  and  abnormal  manifestations. 
The  new  Divine  life  which  was  suddenly  poured  into 
human  nature,  stirred  it  to  unusual  powers.  Men  and 
women  who  yesterday  could  only  sit  and  condole  with 
their  sick  friends,  found  themselves  today  in  so  ele- 
vated a  state  of  mind  that  they  could  impart  to  the 
sick  vital  energy.  Young  men  who  had  been  brought 
up  in  idolatry  and  ignorance,  suddenly  found  their 
minds  filled  with  new  and  stimulating  ideas,  which 
they  felt  impelled  to  impart  to  those  who  would  listen. 


176  Gospel  Pioneering 

These  and  the  like  extraordinary  gifts,  which  were 
very  helpful  in  calling  attention  to  the  young  Chris- 
tian community,  speedily  passed  away." 

Both  these  statements,  samples  as  they  are  of  many 
others,  express  a  conviction  more  or  less  current  in 
every  quarter  since  thought  was  set  free  by  the  Ref- 
ormation, that  "  the  age  of  miracles  is  past."  I  my- 
self met  this  teaching  at  the  very  beginning  of  my 
Seminary  course,  in  my  study  both  of  the  Scriptures 
and  of  Systematic  Theology.  One  of  my  teachers 
suggested  as  a  possible  explanation  of  the  cessation  of 
these  gifts  that  they  were  bestowed  only  by  the  lay- 
ing on  of  the  hands  of  the  apostles  (see  Acts  8:14-18), 
and  that  when  the  Apostles  went  to  Heaven,  the  pow- 
ers ceased,  because  the  channel  of  communication  was 
thus  closed.  I  remember  quite  distinctly  that  my  mind 
and  heart  revolted  at  an  explanation  so  unspiritual, 
so  almost  mechanical,  as  that;  but  this  did  not  shake 
my  acceptance  of  the  historical  and  unquestionable 
fact  (  ?)  that  somehow,  or  for  some  good  reason  not 
revealed  to  us,  "  the  age  of  miracles  was  past." 

I  confess  that  I  was  stumbled  by  the  fact  that  the 
history  of  the  Church  is  replete  throughout  the  ages 
with  outbursts  of  miraculous  energy,  and  by  the  fact 
that  these  were  disposed  of  by  orthodox  doubters  in 
a  way  somewhat  like  that  in  which  rationalism  has 
sought  to  discredit  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Himself;  yet 
in  the  busy  life  which  I  had  to  lead,  and  in  my  lack 
of  preparation  and  of  the  apparatus  necessary  to  in- 
vestigate the  accounts  of  these  miracles,  I  generally 
dropped  the  subject  and  fell  back  on  the  old  adage, 
"  The  age  of  miracles  is  past." 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       177 

A  more  serious  difficulty  was  in  the  paragraph  in 
which  the  Gospel  of  Mark  draws  to  its  close.  I  dis- 
posed of  this,  however,  for  awhile  by  noting  that  relia- 
ble and  friendly  criticism  has  made  it  quite  certain 
that  the  final  paragraph  as  Mark  wrote  it,  was  lost, 
and  this  was  added  as  a  substitute  by  some  later  copy- 
ist. But  if  this  was  so,  this  passage  is  a  demonstra- 
tion that  these  spiritual  gifts  did  continue  in  the 
Church  long  after  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age.  Cer- 
tainly if  they  were  no  longer  bestowed,  the  writer  of 
the  paragraph  would  not  have  represented  Jesus  as  giv- 
ing this  unlimited  promise:  "These  signs  shall  ac- 
company them  that  believe:  in  My  name  shall  they 
cast  out  demons,  they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues 
.  .  .  they  shall  lay  their  hands  on  the  sick  and  they 
shall   recover." 

Fifty-six  years  ago  a  Christian  woman  in  New  Eng- 
land who  had  at  that  time  attained  no  eminence  in 
literature  or  science  or  religion,  published  a  book 
which  she  entitled,  "  Science  and  Health,  with  a 
Key  to  the  Scriptures."  It  is  difficult  for  one  not 
already  drawn  to  it,  either  by  a  personal  experience 
of  the  practical  results  attending  the  reading  of  that 
book  or  by  a  close  observation  of  them,  to  find  in  it, 
even  now,  the  secret  of  its  hold  upon  multitudes  of 
people  whose  intelligence  and  trustworthiness  are  cer- 
tainly not  below  —  indeed,  I  may  say,  are  evidently 
above  —  that  of  the  average  American. 

It  seems  to  me  that  no  statistical  study  is  necessary 
to  compel  us  to  find  in  those  results  a  wonderful  phe- 
nomenon. The  adherents  of  Christian  Science  are 
building  in  every  large  town  large  and  expensive  tem- 


178  Gospel  Pioneering 

pies,  and  these  are  filled  with  worshipers.  No  meet- 
ing-houses except  those  of  the  Romish  Church,  and  a 
few  of  the  Protestant  churches  whose  eminent  pastors 
attract  an  unusual  attendance,  approach  these  temples 
in  respect  to  the  crowds  gathering  there.  And  yet  the 
reported  order  of  worship  is  such  that  would  quickly- 
empty  any  other  churches.  Two  members  of  the 
church  are  designated  as  "  Readers."  One  of  them 
reads  a  passage  from  the  Bible,  and  the  other,  com- 
ments  upon  it  found  in  "  Science  and  Health  ";  there 
is  congregational  singing  and  prayer,  and  the  service 
ends.  Their  midweek  meetings  are  also  very  largely 
attended,  sometimes  crow^ding  their  edifices,  and  in 
these  meetings  there  is  greater  freedom,  and  sponta- 
neous testimonies  are  given  concerning  physical  heal- 
ings which  have  fruitened  in  a  different  spirit  in  home 
life  and  business  life  —  gentleness  and  faithfulness  and 
the  absence  of  anxieties. 

Perhaps  in  calling  these  healings  miraculous,  I  am 
using  a  term  which  the  teachers  in  this  movement 
would  repudiate ;  for  I  have  seen  in  Mrs.  Eddy's  state- 
ment of  her  own  personal  experience  of  healing,  in 
which  the  whole  movement  took  its  rise,  that  she 
discovered  a  "  law  "  —  if  I  understood  the  statement 
correctly,  a  natural  law  —  by  the  right  use  of  which 
all  these  results  are  produced. 

I  am  not  able  to  go  further  in  describing  this  phe- 
nomenon. I  am  not  its  exponent,  certainly  not  its 
advocate:  I  am  simply  insisting  that  it  is  a  phenome- 
non which  ought  to  be  candidly  and  carefully  studied ; 
and  unless  there  has  been  a  discovery  of  some  natural 
law  at  present  unknown  except  to  the  disciples  of  Mrs. 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       179 

Eddy,  in  the  use  of  which  these  results  are  brought 
to  pass,  the  age  of  miracles  is  not  past. 

It  is  nearly,  if  not  quite,  twenty  years  since  I  read 
a  paper  at  our  Congregational  ministers'  meeting,  the 
title  of  which  was:  "Christian  Science:  Shall  we 
fight  it  or  shall  we  flank  it?"  It  had  already  for 
several  years  been  fought  by  eminent  preachers  in  al- 
most every  denomination  with  great  earnestness  and 
skill.  But  the  more  we  fought  it,  the  more  it  grew. 
It  was  capturing  many  of  our  church  members,  and 
often  such  as  could  ill  be  spared ;  and  its  literary  agen- 
cies of  growth  were  increasing  both  in  number  and 
in  power.  And  the  secret  of  it  all,  so  far  as  one  out- 
side could  see,  is  in  its  removing  pain,  its  healing  dis- 
ease, its  quieting  anxiety,  and  doing  this  without  the 
use  of  medicines  and  without  delays. 

The  practical  suggestion  in  my  paper  was  this:  that 
since  our  fighting  had  been  so  signally  unsuccessful, 
we  flank  it  after  the  manner  of  General  Sherman's 
magnificent  march  from  Tennessee  to  Savannah,  never 
fighting  a  battle,  but  simply  keeping  ahead  of  the  op- 
posing force.  Suppose,  I  said,  we  outdo  our  friends 
of  this  new  cult  in  their  own  undertakings.  Suppose 
we  reconsider  that  old  saying  that  "  the  age  of  mir- 
acles is  past  " ;  examine  the  grounds  for  so  bold  an 
affirmation  and  raise  the  question  whether,  in  bring- 
ing us  face  to  face  with  such  a  phenomenon,  Christ 
may  not  be  rebuking  our  unbelief.  If  that  old  saying 
is  heresy,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  one  of  the  worst  here- 
sies that  ever  blocked  the  advance  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  or  hindered  the  salvation  of  men. 

I  cited  in  my  paper  this  incident  in  my  own  pas- 


i8o  Gospel  Pioneering 

torate.  Finding  that  the  calls  made  upon  me  for 
service  in  other  directions  had  forced  upon  me  a  neg- 
lect of  pastoral  services  in  my  own  flock,  I  had  em- 
ployed an  excellent  Christian  lady  as  my  assistant. 
Her  name  w^as  Caroline  Smith.  She  was  also  in 
special  charge  of  the  Sunday  School  out  of  which  grew 
the  Bethlehem  Congregational  Church. 

Few  probably  remember  that  about  thirty-three 
years  ago  the  centennial  of  the  introduction  of  prayer 
at  the  daily  meetings  of  the  convention  which  framed 
the  constitution  of  our  nation  being  about  to  arrive, 
the  suggestion  was  w^Idely  made  that  the  churches  rec- 
ognize and  celebrate  it  by  holding  in  each  church  a 
prayermeeting  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that 
day.  Bethany  Church  acted  upon  that  suggestion. 
On  the  Sunday  morning  preceding  the  Tuesday  on 
which  this  meeting  w^as  to  be  held,  a  message  from 
Miss  Smith  came  to  me  stating  that  she  was  very  sick, 
and  asking  me  to  come  and  pray  for  her,  anoint- 
ing her  with  oil  according  to  the  direction  in  the 
epistle  of  James.  Of  course  I  promised  to  do  so  as 
early  as  possible  in  the  afternoon.  Two  of  our  earnest 
young  ladies  accompanied  me.  When  Miss  Smith 
was  brought  out  of  her  chamber  and  laid  down  upon 
a  lounge  arranged  for  the  purpose,  I  thought  her  face 
to  be  more  haggard  than  any  I  had  ever  looked 
upon  before.  A  fearful  hemorrhage  had  taken  place, 
whether  from  the  lungs  or  not,  I  do  not  know^  I 
greatly  esteemed  her;  felt  that  I  could  not  spare  her: 
and  I  prayed  for  her  recovery  with  all  earnestness, 
but  with  submission  to  w^hat  seemed  to  be  the  will  of 
God.     I  also  anointed  her  with  oil  in  fulfilment  of 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       i8i 

the  direction,  so  far  as  I  understood  it.  Soon  after 
my  prayer  was  ended,  one  of  my  companions  prayed. 
Then  we  bade  Miss  Smith  goodbye  —  I,  with  a  very 
heavy  heart. 

As  we  w^alked  toward  our  church,  my  two  com- 
panions chatted  together  cheerily  concerning  other 
matters  than  that  which  had  called  us  to  our  sick 
sister.  I  could  not  bear  it,  and  at  length  gently 
chided  them  —  "I  don't  see  how  you  can  be  talking 
so  glibly,  with  Carrie  Smith  so  sick."  "  Why,  she  is 
all  right,"  replied  the  one  who  had  prayed;  "  I  don't 
have  any  difficulty  in  believing  it:  I  know  she  is  safe." 
Whereupon  I  ceased  and  returned  to  my  own  thoughts 
and  prayer  about  it. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  about  ten  minutes  before  ten 
o'clock,  I  went  from  my  study  to  the  chapel  to  see 
that  every  necessary  preparation  had  been  made  for 
the  meeting,  saying  to  myself  on  the  way,  "As  soon 
as  this  meeting  closes,  I  will  call  on  Carrie  Smith." 
But  in  opening  the  door  I  saw  her  already  present. 
She  had  walked  a  half  mile  over  a  rather  rough  road 
on  an  upgrade.  Of  course  I  was  astonished.  I  asked, 
"How  is  this?"  The  answer  was,  "When  you 
prayed,  and  when  I  was  anointed,  I  felt  no  change. 
But  when  Lillian  prayed,  I  felt  a  thrill  run  down  my 
back  and  found  that  I  was  well." 

This  incident  set  me  to  studying  the  Scriptures 
which  speak  of  the  "  gifts  "  of  our  ascended  Lord 
(Eph.  4:7-12;  Rom.  12:6-8;  i  Cor.  12:  i-ii).  I  ob- 
served in  one  passage  that  those  gfts  were  represented 
as  coming  from  our  ascended  Lord ;  and  in  the  others, 
it  appears  that  the  Spirit  bestows  them.     For  us  the 


i82  Gospel  Pioneering 

simplest  and  most  vivid  thought  that  we  can  have  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  to  think  of  Him  as  Jesus  invisible. 
We  are  certainly  warranted  in  doing  so  when,  in  per- 
fect harmony,  Jesus  speaks  of  the  Paraklete  as  one 
coming  to  be  w^ith  us  forever  (John  14:16)  and  adds 
in  verse  18,  "I  will  not  leave  you  desolate,  /  come 
unto  you."  Or  again  (Matt.  28:20)  "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  every  day,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
age  "  —  the  fulfilment  of  redemption. 

Now,  not  attempting  to  suggest  any  theory  about 
these  gifts,  as  though  they  were  bestowed  through 
some  law  of  nature  not  yet  discovered,  or  as  though 
they  were  natural  results  of  influence  (inflowing)  of 
health  and  strength  from  one  human  spirit  "  strong 
in  the  Lord  "  into  one  weakened  by  disease,  I  have 
found  these  facts  to  be  unquestionable,  if  that  which 
is  written  concerning  them  be  true. 

I.  These  gifts  were  distributed.  Few  if  any,  even 
in  the  Apostolic  age,  had  all  of  them,  or  perhaps  more 
than  one. 

2.  This  distribution  was  an  expression  of  Divine 
sovereignty  —  "Dividing  to  each  one  severally  as  He 
will." 

3.  The  exercise  of  these  gifts  by  those  who  had 
received  them  was  also  regulated  by  the  Divine  will. 
It  is  true  that  at  times  —  a  few  times,  as  far  as  ap- 
pears —  throngs  of  people  w^ere  healed,  apparently 
without  discrimination.  It  is  said  that  at  one  time 
in  Jerusalem  the  reputation  of  Peter  as  a  healer  had 
become  so  widespread,  that  the  sick  were  brought  into 
the  streets  and  laid  on  beds  or  couches,  so  that  his 
shadow   as   he   passed    "  might    overshadow    some    of 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       183 

them,"  and  "  they  were  healed  every  one."  But  this 
was  evidently  unusual.  Take  the  case  of  the  lame 
man  healed  by  Peter  a  short  time  before  this  gather- 
ing of  crowds,  when  he  and  John  were  **  going  up 
into  the  Temple  at  the  hour  of  prayer."  It  is  scarcely 
conceivable  that  this  was  the  only  beggar  there.  Prob- 
ably there  were  more  than  ninety-nine  that  they  passed 
by,  but  only  one  was  lifted  out  of  helpless  infirmity 
into  the  joy  of  health.  If  they  had  been  conscious  of 
the  possession  of  this  healing  gift  as  committed  to 
them  to  be  exercised  at  their  own  will,  we  can  scarcely 
repress  our  indignation  at  such  heartlessness.  What 
would  Peter  say  to  us  in  explanation  of  it?  This, 
doubtless:  "  I  cannot  of  myself  heal  any.  The  Lord 
Jesus,  to  whom  in  this  case  I  appealed,  answered  me 
and  authorized  me  to  use  His  name."  And  Peter's 
faith  was  simply  confidence  in  that  spiritual  authori- 
zation; Jesus  spoke  to  him  and  he  heard  and  obeyed. 

How  long  would  Epaphroditus  (Phil.  2:26,  27), 
whom  Paul  loved  so  dearly  and  leaned  upon  so  heav- 
ily, have  been  "  sick  nigh  unto  death  " ;  if  Paul,  who 
seems  to  have  been  endowed  with  many  gifts  —  cer- 
tainly that  of  healing  (see  Acts  14:8-16) — could 
on  his  own  authority  have  spoken  the  healing  word? 
He  was  healed,  whether  naturally  or  supernaturally 
does  not  appear;  but  even  if  it  were  done  through  the 
Spiritual  Gift,  evidently  the  healing  word  could  not 
be  spoken  till  the  Spirit  speaking  within  some  gifted 
healer  said  that  it  might  be  done. 

So  then,  in  this  incident,  the  voice  of  the  Master 
was  heard  within  Lillian  —  my  child  in  the  Gospel 
—  and    brought    her   assurance    that   her   prayer   was 


184  Gospel  Pioneering 

granted.  He  granted  my  petition  by  granting  hers, 
because  He  had  bestowed  on  her  the  gift  of  healing, 
which  He  had  not  given  me.  But  this  did  not,  in 
her  view,  authorize  her  to  open  an  office  and  advertise 
herself  as  a  "  Divine  Healer."  She  could  use  the 
gift  only  when  authorized  so  to  do  by  the  voice  of 
God  speaking  within.  She  did  hear  that  voice  as  she 
offered  her  prayer,  and  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  she 
and  her  companion  left  their  sister  in  such  good  cheer 
and  Lillian  could  say  in  replying  to  my  uncalled-for 
rebuke:  "I  don't  have  any  difficulty  in  believing  it; 
she  is  all  right." 

It  seems  to  me  that  until  this  occurred,  the  ques- 
tion ever  rose  in  my  mind  whether  I  myself  had  any 
of  these  gifts,  and  it  w^as  answered  for  me:  I  had  the 
gift  of  prophecy  —  not  necessarily  for^'telling,  but  al- 
ways /or//z-telling.  I  have  had  occasion  to  refer  to 
this  in  some  of  the  Reminiscences  already  recited,  and 
it  is  in  order  to  a  better  understanding  of  these  that 
I  have  written  this  chapter.  In  one  case,  in  my  prom- 
ise to  my  Chinese  brethren,  it  was  a  clear  case  of  fore- 
telling (see  p.  134).  My  preaching  has  come  to  be 
habitually  a  forth-telling  —  prophecy. 

At  the  beginning  of  my  first  pastorate,  I  pruden- 
tially  purchased  a  little  blank-book  in  which  I  entered 
good  subjects  for  sermons,  thinking  that  whenever  I 
was  at  a  loss  for  a  subject,  I  could  find  one  there.  The 
list  became  somewhat  long,  but  was  never  referred  to 
and  was  lost  long  ago.  I  have  never  been  content  to 
preach  upon  a  topic  because  it  was  a  good  one  or  be- 
cause it  w^ould  be  a  pleasing  one  to  my  people.  Long 
before  this  question  of  the  gift  of  prophecy  had  risen 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       185 

in  my  mind,  I  acted  upon  it.  I  cannot  remember 
when  I  was  satisfied  to  begin  the  preparation  of  a 
sermon  without  a  certain  consciousness  that  I  had  re- 
ceived a  message  from  Jesus  Himself  to  deliver  at  that 
time  to  my  flock.  Sometimes  my  faith  in  this  has 
been  sorely  tested,  as  I  saw  the  days  of  the  week  pass- 
ing by  and  no  message.  But  I  do  not  recollect  that 
it  ever  failed  me.  And  when  it  did  come,  perhaps  on 
Saturday  morning,  it  would  be  with  such  freshness 
and  fullness  that,  sitting  down  at  my  table,  pencil  in 
hand,  I  could  not  jot  down  the  suggestions  as  fast  as 
they  came.  They  came,  too,  in  the  right  order,  so 
that  seldom  in  rewriting  did  I  need  to  make  changes. 
Recollections  apposite  to  this  go  back  beyond  my 
ministry  in  California,  and  to  preaching  done  while 
I  was  still  a  student  in  the  Seminary  at  Bangor, 
Maine.  We  were  to  have  a  vacation  of  two  months, 
and  I  was  appointed  to  supply  a  pastorless  church  in 
the  suburbs  of  the  city  of  Belfast,  a  village  known  as 
North  Belfast.  The  Holy  Spirit  wrought  w^ith  me, 
and  I  soon  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  quiet  re- 
vival. The  consequence  was  that  I  could  not  leave 
in  the  midst  of  my  harvest,  and  a  third  month  would 
include  Thanksgiving  Day.  Rev.  Dr.  George  W. 
Field,  at  that  time  one  of  the  most  popular  preachers 
in  Maine,  and  a  very  dear  friend  to  me,  young  though 
I  was,  wrote  me  that  he  was  coming  to  spend  Thanks- 
giving at  his  childhood's  home,  and  I  need  not  be  at 
the  trouble  to  prepare  a  Thanksgiving  sermon,  for  he 
would  come  and  preach  for  me.  I  gave  this  good 
news  to  the  people  and  it  was  welcomed  with  much 
enthusiasm.     So,  on  Thanksgiving  morning  I  started 


1 86  Gospel  Pioneering 

with  our  good  old  Deacon's  horse  and  buggy  to  bring 
Doctor  Field.  The  horse  was  so  conscious  of  his  own 
and  his  owner's  dignity  that  for  him  haste  w^as  always 
unbecoming.  So  I  started  early  with  a  joyous  antici- 
pation of  the  good  fellowship  we  should  have  while 
the  horse  took  his  moderate  pace  homeward,  and  the 
good  sermon  on  which  my  people  and  not  less  I  would 
feed.  What  was  my  dismay,  when  I  reached  the  door 
of  his  childhood's  home  to  hear  that  he  had  not  ar- 
rived. I  drove  in  desperation  about  the  little  city  try- 
ing to  find  a  minister  who  could  preach  offhand  a 
Thanksgiving  sermon.  I  found  none.  Indeed,  be- 
fore I  gave  up  the  search  it  became  a  serious  question 
whether  through  any  speed  to  which  I  could  urge  my 
horse,  I  could  reach  the  church  in  time. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  with  my  best  endeavor  we  were 
a  little  late,  and  I  found  the  church  crowded.  On  my 
way  I  was  pleading  with  Jesus  His  promise,  which, 
while  not  designed  to  encourage  laziness,  was  apposite 
to  my  condition  (Matt.  10:19):  "Be  not  anxious 
how  or  when  ye  shall  speak:  for  it  shall  be  given  you 
in  that  hour  what  ye  shall  speak."  I  had  not  reached 
the  point  of  appropriating  to  myself  the  following  sen- 
tence, "  For  it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of 
your  Father  that  speaketh  in  you."  This,  I  supposed 
was  to  be  fulfilled  only  in  the  age  of  miracles.  There 
came  to  my  mind  a  thought  which  I  had  welcomed 
and  hoped  that  I  might  prepare  a  sermon  about:  The 
help  which  a  vivid  sense  of  the  presence  of  Christ  with 
us  would  give,  and  the  loss  we  sustain  when  living 
without  this.  Nothing,  however,  came  to  me  to  say 
about  it. 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       187 

I  entered  the  church  and  stated  my  disappointment, 
adding  that  I  had  learned  nothing  which  would  help 
me  to  understand  it.  I  then  led  them  in  the  invoca- 
tion and  selecting  a  hymn  at  random  announced  it 
and  sat  down,  opening  the  pulpit  Bible  on  my  lap, 
and  my  eye  fell  on  Isaiah  45:15:  "Verily  thou  art 
a  God  that  hideth  thyself,  O  God  of  Israel,  the  Sa- 
viour." I  could  not  have  found  a  better  text  than 
that  upon  which  to  found  my  message;  and  so,  deter- 
mined to  read  a  portion  of  that  chapter  as  our  Script- 
ure lesson,  I  replaced  the  Bible  and  had  time  to  find 
a  good  Thanksgiving  hymn.  I  read  the  lesson  and 
led  them  in  a  prayer  of  Thanksgiving  and  announced 
the  hymn ;  but  so  far  as  I  now  recollect,  I  had  not 
even  one  sentence  in  mind  to  follow  the  announce- 
ment of  the  text.  But  it  was  given  me  what  I  should 
speak.  Utterly  free  from  embarrassment,  suitable 
thoughts  and  a  suitable  expression  of  them  came  to 
me,  and  through  me  to  the  people.  When  the  service 
ended,  the  people  thronged  about  me,  declaring  that 
they  were  glad  that  Doctor  Field  did  not  com.e ;  and 
I  myself,  as  I  look  back  upon  it,  could  concei\e  no 
possible  improvement  of  it,  either  as  to  the  order  of 
the  thought  or  the  language  used,  and  I  thanked  the 
Master  for  fulfilling  His  promise.  But  I  did  not 
take  the  gracious  hint  He  gave  in  His  explanation  of 
His  promise:  "It  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit 
of  your  Father  that  speaketh  in  you."  Today  I  call 
it  prophecy. 

I  venture  to  give  another  quite  recent  experi- 
ence, even  more  conclusive  in  respect  to  this  gift  of 
prophecy,  i.e.  forthtelling. 


1 88  Gospel  Pioneering 

It  is  less  than  three  years  since  I  was  requested  to 
go  to  Sulsun  City,  to  take  the  place  on  Sunday  of  a 
brother  who  was  conducting  the  Sunday  services  in 
our  church  there  till  a  permanent  pastor  could  be  se- 
cured, but  who  had  suddenly  become  sick.  I  had 
greatly  enjoyed  the  day.  It  was  in  a  new,  very  comely 
and  convenient  house  of  worship  dedicated  the  Sunday 
preceding,  that  I  was  to  meet  the  people.  I  had  vis- 
ited the  Sunday  School  and  almost  fell  in  love  with 
those  who  wrought  in  it,  and  especially  with  the  class 
which,  in  the  absence  of  its  teacher,  I  had  taught.  I 
had  preached  at  the  morning  service  eye  to  eye  with 
every  person  present  —  such  attention  as  always  makes 
preaching  a  royal  feast  for  the  preacher;  and  a  part 
of  the  afternoon  had  been  spent  with  two  highly  es- 
teemed friends. 

At  length,  when  I  was  returning  to  my  room  to 
think  through,  as  is  my  habit  before  conducting  a 
service,  w^hat  has  been  given  me  to  say,  in  ascending 
quite  a  long  stairway  more  rapidly,  in  my  unusual 
buoyancy,  than  was  discreet,  I  swooned  the  first  and 
only  time  in  my  life,  and  falling  unconscious  on  the 
steps  rolled  down  a  considerable  distance.  When  I  re- 
sumed consciousness,  I  saw  a  lady  and  gentleman  try- 
ing to  lift  me.  With  their  help  I  reached  my  room, 
and  little  realizing  the  extent  of  my  injury  I  began 
to  try  to  think  and  found  it  impossible.  My  brain 
would  not  w^ork  at  all.  I  suppose  that  my  head  had 
fallen  heavily  on  each  stair  in  my  descent,  and  the 
brain  had  been  shaken  too  hard  and  too  many  times. 

I  observed  that  it  was  raining,  and  comforted  my- 
self that  very  few  would  come  and  be  disappointed. 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       189 

But,  probably  because  of  the  rafn,  the  good  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sunday  School  had  come  for  me  with 
his  car.  Thus  I  felt  constrained  to  go  with  him, 
though  I  could  not  conceive  of  any  possibility  of  my 
conducting  the  service.  There  are  three  facts  and  only 
three  that  I  remember  at  all  respecting  the  service; 
these,  however,  are  fixed  in  my  memory  forever.  The 
first  was,  that  finding  it  impossible  for  me  to  do  it, 
I  asked  the  leader  of  the  choir,  who  sat  near  me,  to 
select  and  announce  the  hymns.  The  second  is,  that 
when  the  time  came  for  the  sermon,  I  said  to  the 
people,  still  sitting  in  my  chair:  "  It  will  be  impos- 
sible for  me  to  pursue  the  train  of  thought  w^hich  I 
had  prepared  for  this  evening,  but  I  will  try  to  bear 
some  testimony  to  Jesus  Christ,  if  He  will  put  the 
words  upon  my  lips."  The  third  fact  was  a  vision 
which  I  think  lasted  but  one  minute.  I  heard  my 
voice  ringing  out  clear  and  strong  and  saw  my  two 
hands  stretched  to  their  utmost  toward  the  people, 
showing  me  that  in  whatever  I  had  been  saying,  I 
had  been  in  dead  earnest.  But  of  anything  I  said,  I 
have  no  recollection  at  all.  I  do  not  remember  read- 
ing the  Scripture  or  offering  prayer,  but  I  was  told 
afterwards  that  I  did  both  in  the  usual  way.  As  to 
what  I  said,  I  was  too  completely  enfeebled  in  brain 
to  ask  or  converse  at  all.  But  three  days  after  I 
reached  my  study,  a  letter  came  from  a  lady  whom 
I  had  never  met  or  known  in  any  way,  in  which  she 
spoke  of  the  *'  golden  words  "  of  my  message.  They 
were  not  my  words,  but  words  which  Jesus  placed 
upon  my  lips.     It  was  prophecy. 

And  now,   if  any  of  my  brethren   in  the  ministry 


igo  Gospel  Pioneering 

who  have  dealt  with  me  so  kindly,  so  fraternally,  as 
to  read  what  I  have  written,  will  continue  the  read- 
ing a  few  minutes  longer,  I  will  give  them  what  after 
service  in  the  ministry  for  more  than  threescore  years 
and  ten  is  my  ideal  of  a  sermon.  It  is  not  an  essay, 
how^ever  rich  in  thought  or  fine  in  the  expression  of 
the  thought.  It  is  not  an  oration,  to  be  judged  ac- 
cording to  its  eloquence.  One  who  so  views  it  is 
nextdoor  neighbor  to  that  brother  who  was  reported 
to  have  delivered,  on  some  great  occasion,  the  most 
eloquent  prayer  ever  addressed  to  a  Boston  audience. 
The  ideal  sermon  is  a  message  from  Christ  Himself 
to  people  for  whom  He  lived  and  died  and  rose  again. 
Its  tone,  its  air,  should  be  conversational.  Such  was 
the  preaching  of  Rev.  E.  S.  Lacy,  under  whose  min- 
istry'our  First  Church  in  San  Francisco  rose  out  of 
embarrassment  such  as  might  easily  have  been  fatal, 
to  be  eminent  among  the  few  strongholds  of  right- 
eousness in  a  city  which  seemed  to  be  doomed  to  be 
a  hotbed  of  all  sorts  of  iniquity  and  uncleanness.  Of 
course,  I  very  seldom  heard  him  preach :  his  preaching 
was  not  eloquent,  there  was  no  attempt  at  eloquence, 
but  it  was  conversational,  suggestive,  inspiring.  Once 
to  have  heard  him  talking  with  us,  heart  to  heart,  was 
sufficient  to  make  me  hear  my  Master  say,  "  Go  thou 
and  do  likewise." 

Many  years  ago  I  was  for  a  few  days  in  Boston 
and  had  an  opportunity  to  attend  a  service  in  the  old 
Park  Street  Church.  Its  pastor  at  that  time  was 
thought  to  be  a  coming  compeer  of  Henry  Ward 
Beecher.  The  great  auditorium  was  so  full  that  I 
was  glad  to  find  a  seat  in  a  corner  of  the  rear  gallery 


The  Charismata:  Spiritual  Gifts       191 

as  far  removed  from  the  speaker  as  any  one  could  be. 
But  I  could  hear  what  he  was  saying,  and  almost  im- 
mediately felt  that  he  was  conversing  with  me.  At 
the  same  time,  the  unusually  close  attention  indicated 
that  every  other  person  present  had  the  same  feeling. 
As  I  listened,  I  prayed  that  the  Spirit  of  God  would 
enable  me  in  like  simple,  social  way  to  give  my  hear- 
ers the  message,  week  by  week,  which  Jesus  might 
commit  to  me.  And  it  was  not  long  before  kind  peo- 
ple, coming  up  to  me  after  a  service  to  bid  me  wel- 
come or  say  farewell,  began  to  express  themselves  not 
as  impressed  by  any  eloquence  or  interested  in  any 
beauty  of  expression,  but  said  simply,  "  I  liked  your 
talk,"  It  was  like  extending  a  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship and  a  new  recognition  that  I  had  been  doing 
Christ's  errand  to  them  individually,  and  they  had 
so  recognized  me  and  heard  me. 


Enough  that  blessings  undeserved 
Have  marked  my  erring  track; 

That  wheresoe'er  my  feet   have  swerved, 
His  chastening  turned  me  back. 

That  more  and  more  a  Providence 

Of  love  is  understood, 
Making  the  springs  of  time  and  sense 

Sweet  w^ith  eternal  good; — 

That  death  seems  but  a  covered  way 

Which  opens  into  light, 
Wherein  no  blinded  child  can  stray 

Bej'ond  the  Father's  sight; 

That  care  and  trial  seem  at  last, 

Through  Memory's  sunset  air. 
Like  mountain-ranges  overpast. 

In  purple  distance  fair; 

That  all  the  jarring  notes  of  life 

Seem  blending  in  a  psalm, 
And  all  the  angles  of  its  strife 

Slow  rounding  into  calm. 

And  so  the  shadows  fall  apart, 

And  so  the  west  w^inds  play; 
And  all  the  windows  of  my  heart 

I  open  to  the  day. 

— John  Greenleaf  Whittier. 


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